July 03, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1429

KARACHI, July 2: The Pakistan Flour Mills Association, Sindh Circle, has announced a one-day strike on Friday against the ban imposed by the government on purchase of wheat in entire Sindh, except the Nawabshah district.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, PFMA Sindh chairman Mohammad Iqbal Dawood urged the government to lift the ban on inter-district movement and purchase of wheat so that flour mills owners could get wheat on cheaper rates amid competition.

He said that government had allowed purchase of wheat from Nawabshah district only and the flour-millers were compelled to pay exorbitantly for the wheat stocks being sold in black market.

He said Karachi was faced with acute shortage of wheat as there was a stock of a few thousands bags left in the market against the requirement of 1.5 million tons per month. He feared that in coming days, the city would be facing flour crisis with price likely to shoot up to Rs35to Rs40 per kg.

Mr Dawood maintained that flour millers were purchasing wheat at a rate of Rs19 per kg from Nawabshah district but extortion at around 15 check posts was making it Rs24.50 per kg on reaching Karachi.

He said that although the government had succeeded in containing wheat smuggling through Afghanistan boarder, it was not allowing inter-district movement of the commodity as done by the Punjab government.

He suggested that the government supply wheat quota to flour mills for the months of July and August from its procured stocks in order to bring down the price of wheat and flour. He also urged the government to stop procuring wheat from various districts in Sindh.

The PFMA chairman said that if the demands were not met, the flour millers would be compelled to launch a campaign. A programme to this effect, he said, would be chalked out at the general body meeting of the association on Monday.

In reply to a question, he said that the government was supplying wheat to Karachi on the basis of 120 million population while the actual population of the city was around 180 million souls.

Former PFMA chairman Mumtaz Ali Shaikh and vice-chairman Mohammad Ashraf also spoke.—PPI