JACOBABAD, Oct 27: The bizzare attitude of the Food Department in not letting 30 trucks unload wheat since last four days at the Jacobabad godown forced the drivers to stage protest demonstration on Monday.

Officials contend lack of space in godowns for accommodating the additional wheat inventory.

Strangely enough, the city is reeling under wheat flour shortage with per kilogram prices ranging from Rs35 to Rs38 – beyond the reach of majority of people.

Mohammad Baqa, Nazir Ahmed and other truck drivers said that they were refused unloading on the plea that there was no space in the godown to store more wheat. Truck drivers raised slogans and staged sit-in for hours against the Food Department.

Drivers bringing wheat from Karachi’s official godowns complained that they had spent all they had and were now penniless – even to buy food.

They demanded of the Sindh government to issue orders for unloading 30 wheat-loaded trucks in Jacobabad or else they would block the Sindh-Balochistan highway.

District Food Controller Ali Asghar Naich said that the Jacobabad godowns had no capacity to hold additional stuff as these were already stacked with 37,000 bags. He said that these can be accommodated in Kandhkot where godowns were lying empty.

Truck drivers were aghast over the idea as they are already broke.

RALLY: The Rice Mills Labour Union took out a rally from grain market against jobs deprivation under Youth Development Programme and non-provision of forms under Benazir Support Programme.