ISLAMABAD: Despite action taken against profiteers by the capital administration, retailers continue selling fruits and vegetables at higher rates.

The retailers said they were making losses due to the rotting of fruits and vegetables in the hot and humid weather.

“The customers are very choosy in Ramazan and the demand is limited to a few vegetables,” said Nasir Abbasi, a vegetable seller in the Super Market. “At the same time, the decay rate is very high under the current weather conditions.”

The situation was similar in other markets and the retailers from Aabpara to G-9 Markaz criticised the magistrates of the local administration for being unfair.

“These ‘baboos’ spend the whole day in their air-conditioned offices and come out in the evening only to issue challans to us,” said Mohammad Ramzan, a fruit and vegetable seller, at Karachi Company.

Retailers say they are facing losses due to rotting of fruits and vegetables in the sweltering heat

During the last 24 hours, the magistrates issued warnings to 78 shopkeepers and imposed fines amounting to Rs168,200 on 83 others.

“Seven shopkeepers who were either misbehaving with customers or had been warned were sent to the judicial lock-up,” said Assistant Commissioner Abdul Sattar Essani.

The average prices of some of the vegetables in the retail markets were: tomatoes Rs50-60 per kilogramme, capsicum Rs60 – 75 per kg, lemon Rs200 per kg and green chillies Rs65 per kg.

The notion that the prices are high at the wholesale market was denied by the traders.

“The bulk of tomatoes is coming from KP and its average rate is Rs25 per kg as the 10 kg bag is between Rs200 and Rs320,” said Rizwan Farooq, a trader at the I-10 wholesale fruit and vegetable market.

Similarly, the average wholesale rate of capsicum is around Rs30 per kg as 25 kg sack was available at Rs700.

“The retailers are making too much profit but accuse us of manipulating the prices,” he added. The same conditions apply at the fruit stalls.

Since the security institutions have stopped the ICT administration from holding the traditional Ramzan sasta bazaars, the field has been left open for the retailers and the only challenge to their monopoly is coming from the CDA weekly bazaars.

Member Administration Capital Development Authority (CDA) Amer Ali Ahmed told Dawn that meetings had been held with the stallholders at the weekly bazaars and they had agreed to minimise their profits.

Compared to the open markets, the prices of essential items were significantly lower at the weekly bazaars of the CDA on Friday as tomatoes were available at Rs40 per kg and capsicum at Rs36 per kg.

Similarly, potatoes and onions were selling at Rs22 and Rs40 per kg at the CDA bazaar with a discount of around Rs10 per kg at the retail markets.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the ICT said the long-term solution to the issue of unreasonable prices of farm products was to establish ‘market committees’ which had been notified about six months ago but were yet to be established.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2015

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