FIA team to probe flour crisis

LAHORE :The federal government has constituted a special team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate into the prevailing wheat crisis across the country.

The FIA deputy director will head the team to determine the persons who have caused the crisis and the role played by the government officials in the matter. The team will inquire about the amount of wheat bought by the mills and the amount of wheat flour produced by the mills.

According to sources, a report carrying recommendations to end the wheat crisis will also be sent to the higher officials. A report will also be prepared on the total production of wheat, the surplus amount of wheat and a list of the individuals who purchased the commodity from the open market.

No flour crisis: Punjab Auqaf Minister Syed Saeedul Hassan Shah has said the Food Department is conducting inspection of flour mills across the province following the direction of Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar.

He said this during a meeting with the members and leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) here on Wednesday. There was no flour crisis in Punjab and instructions to stabilise flour price had already been issued by the chief minister, he added.

He said steps were being taken against hoarders and profiteers. The minister said all possible steps were being taken to ensure stability in the ''Chaki'' flour prices. He said that inspection of thousands of flour mills had so far been conducted, besides taking action against a large number of mills and suspending their wheat quota.

Syed Saeedul Hassan Shah said that licences of 88 flour mills had been suspended, besides imposing a fine of Rs 140 million on them. He said flour was also being sold at official price at the sale points established in different cities in the province.

He said the government had directed the relevant authority to strictly monitor the grinding of wheat in flour mills, adding that action was being taken against the mills selling wheat quota in the open market.

The minister said flour mills in Punjab were being provided some 25,000 tonnes of wheat, whereas, steps related to the price and availability of flour were being reviewed on a daily basis. He said the Punjab government would provide 5,000 tonnes wheat to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on a daily basis.