PESHAWAR: Pakistan Flour Mills Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PFMA-KP) and Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday voiced serious concern over what they called an unconstitutional ban on the transportation of wheat and flour from Punjab to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and warned if the restriction was not lifted immediately, street protests would be staged.

Addressing a joint news conference at the SCCI House, the chamber’s president, Junaid Altaf, and PFMA-KP chairman Naeem Butt said the Punjab government’s decision had severely affected the people, flour industry and trade sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Mr Altaf urged both federal and provincial governments to take urgent notice of the situation and ensure uninterrupted inter-provincial trade.

“Policies and actions that cause the closure of industries and businesses must be abandoned. We want to promote economic and trade activity and not to suffocate it,” he said.

Warn of street protests if restriction not lifted

Calling the situation “alarming,” the SCCI president warned that the ban could trigger a wheat and flour crisis in the province.

PFMA-KP chairman Naeem Butt claimed that nearly 90 per cent of flour mills in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been forced to close due to multiple challenges, primarily the wheat supply suspension.

He said the price of a 20kg flour bag had surged from Rs1,600 on August 25 to Rs3,000due to a shortage.

Mr Butt alleged that the Punjab government had set up checkpoints at Attock and other entry points where monitoring officials were receiving bribes and misusing permit systems to allow the transport of wheat and flour.

“These acts are sheer cruelty towards the terrorism-hit people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who are now being forced to buy flour at double the previous rate,” he said.

Mr Butt said KP’s annual wheat requirement was 5.3 million metric tonnes, while its local production stood at just 1.2 million metric tonnes, leaving a shortfall of over four million metric tonnes.

He urged the provincial government to purchase surplus wheat from Passco and release it to local flour mills to avert a looming crisis.

The meeting was attended by SCCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Nadeem, Vice

NANBAIS ANNOUNCES STRIKE: The nanbai association has announced that it will observe a shutter-down strike across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against suspension of wheat and flour supplies from Punjab.

In a statement issued here on Monday, deputy general secretary of the Peshawar Nanbai Association Jehanzeb Mohmand alleged that the Punjab government was exhibiting “anti-Pakhtun bias” by halting the supply of wheat and flour to Peshawar and other parts of the province.

He said the move was a clear violation of inter-provincial agreements and fundamental human rights.

Mr Mohmand claimed that a checkpoint established near Attock Bridge was preventing trucks from transporting flour purchased from mills and markets in Punjab.

He warned that due to disruption, flour stocks in Peshawar and other districts had nearly run out, creating fears of a potential shortage.

The association leader said flour dealers who still possessed limited stock were selling a 80kg flour bag for Rs13,000.

He criticised political leaders for being “engaged in a tug-of-war for power and their own interests,” ignoring the plight of the poor people.

Mr Mohmand urged the provincial governor, federal minister Amir Muqam and other elected representatives to intervene to help restore supply of wheat and flour to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the residents’ relief.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2025