950818

Lahore sugar dealers

slate raids on stockists

RIZWAN UR REHMAN

LAHORE: The President of Lahore Sugar Dealers Association has criticised the recent raids on sugar dealers in the various localities in the city, and termed it a 'planned move' to create a sugar crisis in the province by harassing the traders.

Addressing a press conference LSDA President Mohammad Asghar Butt said that government agencies through state-controled electronic media has created the impression that sugar dealers are indulging in smuggling and hoarding which is completely baseless and concocted. He said that these agencies "want to create a situation to justify harassment". How can a trader conduct his business in such situation?", he posed this question.

He said that were selling sugar only on the commission of Rs. 5 per bag. He alleged that it were the sugar mills which had raised the price of sugar. "The dealers are earning only the amount of commission as profit per bag", he said.

Butt said that seven lakh sugar bags are lying in the warehouses of the sugar mills and this amount of the sugar will be sufficient to meet the country's needs before the start of new crushing season, in the first week of October.

He said the government was not trading these mills only because the majority of sugar mills belong to present and former premiers of the country. "Instead of that dealers are being pressed to lower the price of sugar, which is not fair," he added.

He said: "how can we supply the sugar at less than our purchase price"?

He further said that when mills run by Punjab Industrial Development Board have been selling the sugar at about Rs. 16.15 per kg to sugar dealers then it is ridiculous to expact the dealers to sell sugar on Rs. 13 per kg.

LSDA Secretary-General Sheikh Akmal Saleem said that presently there was sufficient sugar to meet the country's needs, but the surplus sugar had been exproted by the politically-motivated export licence holders. He said that these licences had been issued to the MPAs and MNAs and these licence holders has created an impression that sugar crisis may hit the country so that the govrenment may allow them to import sugar.

LSDA MEMBERS ARRESTED

The office-bearers of LSDA said that their two members Mohammad Zaheer and Mukhtar Ahmad had been arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) without any justification. They demanded for immediate release of the 'respectable members' their community and said that if 'these actions' would continue then traders of the Lahore will adopt 'direct action'.

Muzammal Butt, another sugar trader, said that their association has decided to file a writ petition in the Lahore High Court, against this, as he said, illegal and unconstitutional act of the government.

Moreover, Karyana Retail Merchants Association has also announced to support their fellow sugar dealers, and said they will stand for the sugar dealers against any high-handedness of the government.

In a statement, Sheikh Fayyaz-ur-Rehman, Central President of Karyana Retail Merchants Association said that dealers could not be held responsible for increase in the prices, but it were the mills which had raised the prices of sugar.

He said that the stocks which the government has claimed to have recovered from the different traders were hardly enough to meets the needs of Lahore for four to five days. He said this was not "hoarding" but this was an act of the traders to keep the market alive.

He said that there were 10 to 12 parties in the country which had been hoarding sugar with the finances from state controlled banks. The government ought to nab those culprits instead of harassing the retail dealers, he demanded.