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NWFP heading towards wheat shortage
PESHAWAR (April 28
2004): The Punjab government decision of ban on
the inter-district movement of wheat is heading
NWFP towards worst kind of wheat shortage as it
has remained with the stock of only seven days,
said NWFP Minister for Food, Fazal Rabbani, while
talking to newsmen here at Peshawar Press Club (PPC)
on Tuesday.
Terming the decision of the government of Punjab
as unconstitutional and unlawful, the minister
said they want the resolution of the matter in the
frame work of the constitution.
He said that a meeting of the provincial ministers
of the country is scheduled to hold at Frontier's
House, Islamabad on 30th of the current month.
He said that NWP has brought the matter into the
notice of the federal government through Federal
Minister for Food Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind.
Criticising the ban Rabbani said that the
objective behind the decision of Punjab is to take
monopoly over the price of wheat, supply and to
create wheat crisis to get financial benefit of
it.
He said that the April 30 meeting would be
attended by provincial food ministers of
Balochistan, Sindh, NWFP and Punjab warned that in
case of refusal of Punjab to left ban, then they
would address a press conference in Islamabad to
announce their future line of action.
The minister said that they would also have to
asked federal government to allow import of wheat
from India and Tajikistan.
He termed ban a violation of the decision of the
Council of Common Interest
(CCI), taken during the government of President
Musharraf. He said that according to the
constitution there would be no ban on the movement
of trade between the four federating units,
alleging that Punjab is out to violate it.
In response to a question, Rabbani said that in
case Punjab shows stubbornness over its
unconstitutional and unlawful decision, the NWFP
government would also have to use all available
option against the decision of Punjab.
The options, he said are including stoppage of
power supply, provision of raw material to Punjab
and exports to Afghanistan.
Replying a query regarding the affects of the
decision of Punjab on the economy of NWFP, he said
that thousands of people are connected with this
sector.
He said that the decision of Punjab would
discourage investment in the province besides
rendering thousands of people jobless.
In response to a question about wheat production
in NWFP, he said that the province produced only 1
million-ton wheat while the annual requirement of
is 20 million-ton.
Courtesy Business Recorder
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Pakissan.com; Advisory Point
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