05 June 2004	Saturday	16 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

QUETTA, June 4: Flour mills owners have called off their strike on Friday after receiving assurances from the provincial government that Punjab will supply 15,000 tons of wheat to Balochistan.

A spokesman for the Balochistan Flour Mills Association, while calling off the three-day strike, said that they had been assured by the government of smooth supply of wheat.

However, the spokesman said that the millers would stick to their demands that they should be allowed to import wheat because they would get it at much reduced rates than that from Punjab.

Sources said that Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf had established contact with the Punjab government and discussed the ban on inter-provincial movement of wheat imposed by Punjab.

The sources said that Punjab had agreed to provide 15,000 tons of wheat immediately to Balochistan to resolve the wheat crisis in the province. The Punjab government had further extended assurances that it was ready to provide more wheat to fulfil Balochistan's requirements.

However, Balochistan Food Minister Maulana Noor Mohammad, talking to Dawn, has said that 15,000 tons of wheat was not enough for resolving the wheat crisis in the province.

He said that Punjab should completely lift the ban on wheat movement. The provincial government was taking steps for getting more wheat from other sources to fulfil the requirement of the province, he added.

"Islamabad should also provide wheat quota to Balochistan," the minister said, adding that it was responsibility of the Centre to supply wheat according to the needs of the provinces.