NWFP Food Minister Shuja Salim Khan on Monday assured the provincial assembly that the government would implement the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the price of sugar in the province. He was replying to a joint adjournment motion of opposition leader Akram Khan Durrani, Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao of PPP-Sherpao and Nighat Yasmeen Orakzai of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q on the price hike.
The minister said that efforts of the government for the implementation of the Supreme Court decision were continue, saying that the result would be visible within one or two days. He said that they were preparing mechanism for the supply of the commodity at district and tehsil levels. He said that the province was basically food deficient and depended on other provinces for flour and sugar.
The supply of sugar from Punjab, he said, had been suspend and the commodity manufactured by the local sugar mills was purchased by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) for distribution through Utility Stores Corporation (USC). He said the province required 3.2 metric tonnes of wheat, but it produced only one million tonnes.
Regarding questions raised by Nighat Yasmeen Orakzai about the treatment of Punjab, he said it had provided commodities on advance payment and that also on higher price than the existing one in the market. He said that during Ramazan, the flour was provided at the rate of Rs 520 per bag as against the price of Rs 420 in Punjab.
He said rejected the impression of the smuggling of food items from NWFP to Afghanistan, saying that NWFP shared a small border with Afghanistan, while the remaining was in the Federally-administered Tribal Area. The minister said that the province bore a huge amount in the head of transportation on wheat from Gwadar, while the flourmills of Lahore and Gujaranwala used to grind locally procured commodity.
He said that in case of the provision of the local commodity, they would have provided free Roti to the people. He requested the Speaker for admission of the adjournment motion for detailed debate. Speaking on the adjournment motion, opposition leader, Akram Khan Durrani said that while law and order had made life of the people miserable, the price hike was depriving 95 percent poor segment of the society of the essential food items.
He said that all essential items, including flour, sugar and even cattle, had been smuggled to Afghanistan. He called for adopting of strict measures to put an end to the menace.
He said that as a result of the deteriorating law and order, work on all mega projects had been stopped and no investor was ready to invest in the province. Durrani urged the provincial government to take up the matter of completion of under-construction projects with the Federal government.
Nighat Yasmeen Orakzai of the PML-Q said: "Despite clear directives of the Supreme Court, the commodity (sugar) is being sold at Rs 80 per kilogram in the market." She was also critical of the suspension of the supply of commodity from Punjab, and termed it a violation of the basic human rights. She urged the provincial government to take up the "unconstitutional ban" on sugar by the Punjab government.
Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao of PPP-Sherpao said that they agreed with the international economic situation, but the government was required to take measures to minimise its negative impact on the people. He said that though the inflation had increased by 16 to 17 percent, prices of some essential had gone up by 30 to 40 percent during the current year.
He attributed the upward trend in the prices of the essentials to the failure of the price control mechanism of the provincial government, saying sugar was being sold at Rs 80 per kilogram, while the situation of the flour was also the same. He requested the chair to admit the motion for detailed debate. The chair put the motion to vote and the house admitted it for debate.