Price is right: Fuel stations told to stock up on petrol or face closure

Operation against sale of unwholesome meat underway.

LAHORE:

Petrol pump owners have been directed to ensure they have adequate supply of petroleum products on the night of January 31 so that consumers can purchase fuel at the new rates on February 1, Cabinet Price Control Committee Chairman Bilal Yasin has said. “We will take strict action against petrol pump owners who cause a shortage of fuel ahead of a decrease in prices of petroleum products.” 

Yasin was presiding over a meeting of the Cabinet Price Control Committee at the Civil Secretariat on Monday. Provincial Minister for Agriculture Dr Farrukh Javed; several members of the provincial assembly; the additional chief secretary; and secretaries of Agriculture, Industries, Livestock, Food, Health and Information Departments attended the meeting.



The industries secretary said petrol was available at 95 per cent of the fuel stations in Lahore and no one was complaining about a fuel shortage. He said 2.5 million litres of petrol was being supplied to    petrol stations daily.

The minister said they would seal the petrol pumps that did not keep full stock ahead of the price decrease.

Officials at the meeting said that they were raiding shops selling edible items at inflated rates. The food secretary said 200 shopkeepers were arrested and fined last week for unethical business practices.

Officials said that it was because of their strict monitoring that the price of LPG had dropped significantly.

Yasin urged the officials to conduct regular inspection raids and take all profiteers and hoarders to task. He said no negligence would be tolerated in this regard.

He said flour in abundance was available at fixed prices in markets. “No one will be allowed to sell flour at inflated rates or create a shortage of wheat in the province.”

The minister said that the Punjab government was working with the federal government to export more than 100,000 metric tonnes of wheat. He said the government had fixed the price of a 20kg bag of flour at Rs760. It was previously being sold at Rs785. He gave directions to the administration to work towards slashing the prices of tea and mobil oil. Livestock and Dairy Development Secretary Naseem Sadiq said the department had launched a massive operation to stop the sale of unwholesome and unstamped meat in the province. He said they were also conducting search operations and sealing illegal slaughter houses. He said 2,935kg of unwholesome meat had been confiscated last month. Sadiq told The Express Tribune that his department had clamped down on the sale of unwholesome meat so that its incidence had dropped by at least 80 per cent. He said the department had launched an SMS service (9211 ) on which consumers could inform the department about sale of carcasses, adulterated, unhygienic or water-soaked meat. He said the short-text message service, launched by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Livestock and Dairy Development Department five days ago, had received an overwhelming response from the public. “We received more than 2,500 meat quality verification messages and over 300 complaints on our toll-free number 080009211.”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2015.