March 17, 2006	Friday	Safar 16, 1427

KARACHI, March 16: The Sindh Food Department has given wholesalers another 15 days time to get separate licences for sugar trade. The extension was granted in a meeting of the Karachi Wholesalers Grocers Association (KWGA) with food department director Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah here on Thursday to break the impasse in the wholesale trade which has pushed up sugar prices at the retail stage.

The department had earlier given a deadline for March 12, but the wholesalers failed to get the licences. As a result, the Jodia Bazar ran out of sugar stocks as the wholesalers suspended lifting of the commodity from millers to lodge protest against the decision.

Giving details of the meeting, adviser to the KWGA, Anis Majeed said that March 27 was the new deadline. He said that the food director was unaware that the wholesalers were already providing monthly stock details of sugar.

The food director said that sugar was not part of the Food Grain Licence and asked the wholesalers to get the separate licence.

The adviser said that the association members had argued that there should be no need for a separate licence when they already had the Food Grain Licence, but the food director had not given any indication in the meeting that favoured one licence for all commodities, including sugar.

Mr Majeed said the food department had also asked the association to give further suggestions on the issue so that he could put up them before the Sindh food minister and other higher authorities.

He said the department had also restricted the wholesalers through a notification issued in the last week of February to keep only 60 tons of sugar stocks each.

But the association proposed to the food director to do away with this restriction and exceed the limit to 200 tons.

Former KWGA general-secretary Mohammad Shakil said the wholesalers had invited the food director for a meeting on Tuesday in the association’s office to further discuss the issue of separate sugar trade licence.

He said the association had also asked the food department to bind only those traders for getting separate sugar trade licence who did not have the Food Grain Licence and let the old wholesalers continue sending stock details under the licence to the government.

He said the association members were already providing monthly stock details of black gram, rice, wheat and sugar to the food department.