LARKANA, Sept 2: President Gen Pervez Mushharaf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz should direct the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to procure 100,000 metric tons of Sugdasi rice, worth Rs2 billion, lying in mills of Sindh and Balochistan.

The appeal was made by Sindh-Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association president Gada Hussain Mahessar and Larkana Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Iqbal Hussain Shaikh while speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday.

They said this stock of rice was lying as pledge with banks and the amount was to be paid to banks by Aug 30, 2004, which had already passed. They feared that rice millers, traders and farmers would suffer huge losses if the rice was not procured by the trading corporation.

They said on their request the ministry of commerce directed the trading corporation to purchase the rice and arrange for its export after which the corporation floated tenders. But, they regretted, some vested interests of Punjab raised objection to the tenders and requested the government to cancel them.

They wondered why Punjab exporters had raised objections when Sri Lanka wanted to purchase 25,000 tons of the Sugdasi rice. They said Iran had also showed interest in procuring the rice.