Daily Times

Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shahzad Khan Bangash on Thursday presided over a meeting to address scores of issues related to transportation, hoarding, profiteering, and smuggling of urea fertilizers. Meanwhile, the KP secretary directed the concerned departments to take strict action against the culprits. Secretary Agriculture Israr Khan informed the participants of the meeting about the measures taken against the smuggling, hoarding, and profiteering of urea in the province. He told the participants that the federal government had provided 19,260 metric tons with additional 2,304 metric tons of urea supply to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while 13,790 metric tons of urea had been supplied against the demand of 27,366 metric tons in the month of October.

Secretary of Agriculture said that actions had been taken in relation to complaints against hoarding, smuggling, profiteering. The secretary said that notified prices printed on urea fertilizer were being ensured to be shared on PITB portal. The Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while issuing instructions to the home department, said that clear and consistent instructions to be made to the police department to ensure police presence at border crossings. The police to be directed to inspect vehicles, confiscate smuggled goods and cooperate with the agriculture department, he added. On this, officials of the home department informed the meeting that the police department had confiscated about 35,380 bags of urea worth Rs. 55 million, similarly 17 people had been arrested and 5 vehicles were seized.

He said that the seized bags had been handed over to the agriculture department to be sold through the government’s farms service centers at official rates. The Secretary Agriculture Israr khan said that according to KPK FCA 1999 and Rules 2003, the department was authorized to take action against the quality control of fertilizers, marketing, and manufacturing of fake and substandard fertilizers.

He said that the agriculture department and other stakeholders including the district administration and the provincial police had seized 56,727 bags of urea out of which 25,189 bags were handed over to farms service centers to sell to local farmers at the rate fixed by the government. He said that fine was imposed over 4,390 people for hoarding and selling fertilizer at high prices. The meeting was attended by Secretary Agriculture Israr Khan, senior officials from home department, Industries and the police department.