Daily Times

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that due to off beam federal government policies, a dispute between growers and sugar millers has emerged, resulting in the mills refusing to start crushing and standing sugarcane crop turning pale.

He said so while talking to the media after inaugurating two roads – Hub River and Surjani-Madinatul Hikmat Road – near Hamdard University. He was accompanied by Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Fisheries & Livestock Minister Mohammad Ali Malkani, Works& Services Minister Imdad Pitafi, MPA Saeed Ghani and Local Government Secretary Ramzan Awan.

The chief minister said that the matter of sugarcane crushing was taken up in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting held on November 24, in Islamabad. “I told them that the problem has been created by the federal government by adopting wrong policies,” he said and added that the federal government imposed ban on export of sugar in December 2016, Jan, Feb, March and April, therefore the sugar which was lying in storages could not be exported.

He said that Pakistan produces around eight million tonnes of sugar every year, whereas the local consumption is hardly five million. “This shows that every year we have three million tonnes of sugar in excess,” he said, adding, “had the federal government not imposed ban on export of sugar we would not have any problem of surplus stock”. He added that with the wrong polices of the federal government the mechanism of demand and supply became misbalanced and now “we are facing a serious situation”.

Murad Ali Shah said that in the international market, there was a price difference of around Rs15; therefore, the federal government assured the provincial governments in the CCI that it would give subsidy on export of sugar for which provincial governments would also take some financial burden.

Replying to a question, the chief minister said that the CCI meeting was informed that no sugar mill had started crushing in Punjab.

“But, in Sindh, sugarcane crushing matter has been politicised, this politicisation is causing loss to the growers,” he said and added “our government is with the growers who grow their crops after extensive hard work and investment”. He said that the standing sugarcane crop was turning pale and harvesting must start now.

He said that in the current deadlock, the federal and provincial governments have decided to intervene for the start of crushing and disposing of sugar stocks through export. “The Sindh government in coordination with the federal government is working out a plan to give subsidy and announce sugarcane price,” he said.

“The Green Line project has been delayed due to non-serious attitude of the federal government,” he said and added that it was a Rs 16 billion project and the federal government had allocated Rs 5 billion. “Oh yes, had it been started in Punjab, it would have been completed in one year,” he said.

He said that he would direct Transport Minister Syed Nasir Shah to make necessary provisions for student tickets [concessional] in BRT system. “It is important and we would ensure it,” he said.

He said he had given instructions to divisional administrations of Sindh to take necessary measures to avoid reaction of the operation launched against Faizabad protesters. “We would not allow anybody to take law in their hands,” he said. The chief minister said that he had pressed the federal government to ratify three percent census blocks to make the census credible, but they agreed to ratify only one percent. “In the CCI meeting [Nov 24], the federal government agreed to ratify 5 percent census blocks so that people of the country can trust it. “This is a good move and I hope ratification would make it credible,” he said.

Earlier, the chief minister inaugurated two roads, Hub River and Surjani-Madinatul Hikmat by unveiling their plaques in a ceremony.

The Hub River Road, a part of Karachi’s mega projects started in December 2016 has been completed within 15 months. It is a 12-km road and constructed for Rs 1.25 billion. A storm water drain spreading over 1.62km has also been constructed on one side of the road.

The Surjani-Madinatul Hikmat Road has been constructed within six months with additional construction of road from Northern Bypass to Hamdard University. The cost of the project was Rs 1246.16 million. It has a three lane [on each side] dual-carriage way.

The chief minister, addressing the gathering, said that the projects launched under Karachi Package phase-I were nearing completion. “We are going to launch phase-II from December 15.”

Published in Daily Times, November 26^th 2017.