January 17, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 07, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 16: The Federal Food Committee (FFC) on Wednesday expressed the hope that the flour situation in parts of Balochistan and Sindh would start improving in ‘48 hours’.

The committee was informed that the supply to Balochistan would be streamlined by transporting flour from the NWFP and Punjab.

Sources told Dawn that intelligence agencies that informed the FFC that local warlords and smugglers had ‘forced’ Afghan border forces to shut the ‘Friendship Gate’ at Chaman in protest against the ban on movement of flour from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

The border was reopened by the Afghan forces on Wednesday morning.

The FFC was told that the government had not received any request from the Afghan government for the import of flour.

However, FFC Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Farooq Ahmed Khan said that since there was no ban on ‘government-to-government’ export, Pakistan would not refuse to offer the commodity to Afghanistan if the neighbouring country needed it.

The committee was told that prices and availability of flour were fast normalising in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and most parts of Punjab. Remote areas of Sindh facing flour shortage would get the required quantity in the next few days.

The Ministry of Water and Power said that 90 per cent of the mills had been receiving 19-hour electricity supply daily and loadshedding was being avoided except during the break hours between 5pm and 10pm.

The meeting also discussed the transportation plan for the import and countrywide distribution of 0.6million tons of wheat for which letters of credit would be opened on Thursday.