NWFP mills yet to get Punjab wheat - Transport permits not being issued
By Intikhab Amir
PESHAWAR, Aug 23: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujat Hussain's announcement to lift ban on the transportation of wheat from Punjab and to provide 100,000 metric tons of wheat to the NWFP
remains unimplemented as permits have not yet been issued in Punjab to the flour millers of the NWFP.
The government of Punjab had agreed to issue special permits to the NWFP flour mills to obtain wheat directly from the open market of Punjab. The situation is causing serious anxiety to province's flour industry and people associated with it, particularly, thousands of daily wage earners who lost their jobs after milling operations at a number of flour mills were stopped.
"The commitment is yet to be met as the government of Punjab has not issued permits to the NWFP flour mills," said a spokesman for the PFMA, NWFP. The spokesman said that the 100,000 metric tons was to be lifted from Punjab in four phases - with 25,000 metric tons in each phase.
The association, he added, had forwarded a list of some 82 flour mills to the food department, NWFP, for onward provision to the authorities concerned in Punjab for issuing permits.
However, according to him, permits have not yet been issued. Non-fulfilment of a commitment to provide wheat to NWFP has prevented over 160 flour mills resume their milling operations that have been at a halt for about four months, according to market information.
A commitment to this effect was made, few weeks back, with a representative delegation of the NWFP chapter of Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) by the Federal Minister for Water and Power Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao who also heads the inter-provincial coordination committee.
Mr Sherpao had assured the PFMA delegation of making special arrangements to supply wheat from Punjab to flour mills in NWFP to end the four-month suspension of their milling operations.
The flour mill industry of NWFP experienced worst crisis because of the ban imposed by the government of Punjab on the transportation of wheat from out of its jurisdiction to other provinces - a move necessitated by the federal government to discourage hoarding and keep prices of wheat at a certain level.
Even if the permits are issued during the next couple of days the NWFP flour millers would take, at least, one more week to transport wheat from Punjab to their places. The PFMA spokesman said that each flour mill would get an equal quantity of wheat out of the total consignment to be lifted from Punjab's open market.
In this way each one of the operational flour mills would get around 625 metric tons of wheat that would enable them to continue their milling operations for a few days.
According to a decision of the association's executive council flour mills that had renewed their annual membership and paid membership fee would be eligible to get wheat from the 100,000 metric tons to be lifted from Punjab.
So far some 143 flour mills - out of a total of 160 registered in NWFP - have renewed their annual membership thus they stand eligible to benefit from the decision.
The PFMA has fixed August 23 as the last date for the renewal of the annual membership and the flour mills failing to abide by the association's executive council's decision would not get any thing from the 100,000 metric tons of wheat to be lifted from Punjab.
