Food crisis feared as fuel shortage persists in KP

PESHAWAR: Besides the suffering of the masses due to the shortage of petroleum products in the country, the traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday feared that the crisis would lead to food shortage in the province.

Peshawar Chamber of Small Traders Association President Atif Haleem Jan told The News that the non-availability of petrol and diesel would create a mess in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The impact of non-availability of petroleum in the country was profound but Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be affected severely as it depends on the food items, including flour and pulses, of Punjab,” he added. He said the crisis was created due to the failure of the government but the dealers were also responsible. “TRhe Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government does not listen to sane voices in the province. The chief minister does not know how to run the government,” Atif Haleem maintained.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had already suffered from flour crisis recently. He opined that the government had failed to realise that the lack of petroleum in the market would create more trouble, otherwise it would have taken steps for avoiding the situation.

The crisis would cause price-hike that would affect the poor people, he added. “This crisis will affect all industries including cement and construction in the province,” he added.

However, he expressed the hope that that the crisis may end in 15 days. The government should rethink its policy of allowing private companies to operate without any regulation, he said, adding, the regulatory authorities should take action against these companies and the government should fix responsibility for the failure. He also blamed private companies for the crisis as they always try to avoid losses. They had earned billions of profit annually but when they felt a decrease in their profit margin, they pushed the country into this mess, he added. This crisis could also result in joblessness, he said, adding, the people of Pakistan had voted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) into power in the hope it will bring a change. “It is Imran Khan’s responsibility to make good governance mandatory. The government should devise workable policies and that could only be made possible by handing the government to qualified people in the province,” he argued.

An office-bearer of the Petrol Stations Association Akhtar Nawaz told this scribe that the miseries of the people of Pakistan do not appear to be nearing an end. “First it was corona, then lockdown and now petrol crisis that will ultimately drown the people of this country who the policy makers believe to be Rustum-e-Zaman,” he said. “Pakistan is struck by crisis after crisis due to the lack of awareness of the rulers.

The rulers do not even pretend to have any sympathy with the poor people of this country,” he said. “A home cannot be managed without making proper programme but the rulers were running the country without any plan,” he added.

He feared that the crisis would continue till the end of next month. He blamed the government for failing to foresee the crisis. “It was the government responsibility to have regulated the market by forcing the private companies to follow the rules,” he said.