PTI holds Sindh govt responsible for flour, sugar crises in province

Leader of Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi said on Saturday that the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government was responsible for the flour and sugar crises in the province

He was addressing a press conference in the Sindh Assembly along with PTI lawmakers. PTI Karachi president and MPA Khurram Sher Zaman, Adviser to Ministry of Maritime Affairs Mahmood Moulvi, MPAs Shahnawaz Jadoon, Malik Shehzad Awan, Dr Imran Ali Shah, Adeel Ahmed, Shehzad Qureshi, Adiba Arif Hassan, Rabia Azfar and Karim Bakhsh Gabol and other leaders accompanied him.

Naqvi said that after the passage of the 18th amendment, the food supply and distribution of commodities was the responsibility of the provincial government. One of the departments of the federation was food security whose job was to ensure that there was no shortage of commodities, he added.

“The federal government has fulfilled its responsibility in this regard,” he said.

Naqvi said that if prices were going up, then it was the incompetence of the provincial government. “The food minister himself complained to NAB that the wheat was stolen from the warehouses. The chief justice said that Sindh is the most corrupt provincial government,” he said.

“As of September 20, the price of 20kg flour was 867 in Islamabad, 860 in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan, 1,184 in Larkana, 1249 in Hyderabad and 1,110 in Peshawar. A total of 5.4 million tons of sugar was produced, and the external sugar cost is Rs75.

“Everyone knows that there are 22 mills in Sindh which stockpile sugar. Sugar was kept in the warehouses of Hub. These warehouses should be checked,” he said.

Naqvi that the words used in the APC were reprehensible.

“They [opposition leaders] are targeting the army. On the other hand, they say that this government is occupying our land.”

The PTI leader said PPP supremo Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took part in four rallies, but not a single rally was successful.

Maulvi, the party’s senior leader, said that if the Sindh government released wheat at Rs40, we would pay Rs50 today.

Accusing the opposition parties’ alliance -- Pakistan Democratic Movement – of withholding wheat to achieve its objectives, he said an artificial crisis of wheat and sugar was being created.

Asking Prime Minister Imran Khan to form a committee on the issue, he said the PPP-led provincial government was creating problems for the people.