SWABI: Meat sellers have been openly violating the official price list and charging additional money from customers in different areas of Swabi district.

People visiting the bazaars have criticised the tehsil municipal administration (TMA) for not taking steps for implementation of official prices by the butchers and other traders.

“TMA should not issue the official price list of beef and mutton if cannot implement it. It’s just a useless exercise,” said Niazul Amin of Maneri village. He said that not a single butcher in the district was following the prices fixed by the local authorities.

The local government has fixed the per kilogramme price of mutton and beef at Rs650 and Rs250, respectively, but these are being sold by butchers at Rs720 and 270 per kilogramme. However, the butchers said that it would become difficult for them to even cover the cost of the animal if they started selling meat at the government fixed prices.

Butchers say selling meat at official prices impossible

When contacted, an official said that those violating the price list would be taken to task. He said that the customers should complain to the officials concerned about overcharging or low quality of meat so they could take proper action.

LG POLITICS: Three district councillors who had submitted applications to the Awami National Party for contesting election to the district nazim slot have withdrawn in favour of the party’s district president Ameer Rehman.

Briefing mediapersons, Mohammad Rashid said that Mr Ameer was not only the nominee of ANP, but he had also become the consensus candidate of the seven-party alliance, the Swabi Democratic Alliance. Waris Khan, Hayat Khan and Zahid Khan withdrew their nominations in Mr Ameer’s favour.

ANP has also finalised its candidates for nazim and naib nazim slots of Razaar tehsil. Ghulam Haqqani is its candidate for nazim and Duran Khan for the deputy’s slot.

Asad Zaman is the ANP candidate for Chota Lahor tehsil naib nazim slot and Gohar Rehman for Swabi tehsil naib nazim slot. PML’s Faheem Khan has been nominated for Chota Lahor tehsil nazim slot, while Jamaat-i-Islami is yet to name its candidate for Swabi tehsil nazim.

Meanwhile, sources said that one of the tehsil councillors of JUI-F in Chota Lahor tehsil had refused to follow the party line, creating problems for the seven-party alliance.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

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