By Riaz Khan Daudzai
The NWFP sugar stocks exhausted as about 720 tonnes of sugar could not be transported yet from Dera Ismail Khan and the dealers have not been released their quotas for the last three days.
The local wholesale dealers were provided 960 bags (48 tonnes) from the Khazana Sugar Mills, while 1,440 bags of 50kg (72 tonnes) from the DI Khan.
At least at two places — Dilazak Road and Ring Road — the consumers and retailers went rampant and tried to loot sugar laden trucks. Nephew of the Sugar Dealers Association president, Haji Shkirullah, also sustained injuries in the hullabaloo, while distributing sugar on the Ring Road.
However, the Utility Stores provided sugar to consumers in the two regions consisting of Peshawar district and Mohmand and Khyber tribal agencies. An official of the USC, who wished not be named, said that majority of the stores were daily being provided 750 kg (375 packets of 2kg) each of sugar.
He said Region-I, was better managed with an average daily supply of 35000 of sugar to 68 stores, besides supply to Governor’s House, Chief Minster’s House, Orphanage, PDA offices and other government institutions, including blind girls and boys schools hostels, jail, while the Peshawar Region-II provided daily 40,000 sugar to the 79 stores in the region.
The NWFP food director, Abdul Ghafoor Baig, who had left for D I Khan over the weekend, has ordered loading of about 60 trucks carrying some 720 tonnes of sugar, but the entire consignment had not arrived yet for multiple reasons.
The food department officials said the sugar could not arrive in time as some of the trucks were held up in Bannu because the road was blocked in the city due to the Waziristan operation.
They said that due to the operation, the transporters had also restricted their movement and the sugar consignment could not be transported to the northern parts of the province smoothly.
Deputy director food Saeedur Rahman told The News the other day that sugar arriving from the DI Khan also included 10 trucks meant for the provincial metropolis, which would ease the availability situation in the city.
He said the city dealers were directed to rush to DI Khan to collect their quotas as all correspondence had been completed for the purpose. Though, he said, few trucks arrived in the city in the evening waiting on Ring Road to enter the market, these trucks could not be unloaded as entry into city for heavy traffic was restricted at day time.
He said these trucks might be unloaded and sugar might possible go on sale. It was observed that four of the trucks waiting on the Ring Road and few others arrived from DI Khan on Thursday which were released to the four nominated dealers who further distributed the consignment to the 15 dealers.
However, these dealers could not manage distribution of three trucks on Dilazak Road as retail market dealers and consumers, who waited long in queues lost patience and pounced on the trucks and looted the most-sought-after item.
One of these trucks was brought to the Qayyum Sports Complex where it was distributed to the Cantt dealers. Local dealers in Gulberg, Kyber Super Market and adjacent areas said they were not provided sugar from the truck that carried 12 tonnes of sugar. The NWFP sugar stocks are fast depleting and it still daily requires 16,000 tonnes of sugar while its sugar stockpile is less than 20,000 tonnes.