Sharjeel says 150k tonnes of wheat recovered during crackdown

KARACHI:

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the provincial government has recovered 150,000 tonnes of wheat from hoarders during a province-wide crackdown aimed at stabilising prices and ensuring adequate supplies for the public.

Addressing a press conference, the senior minister said Punjab and Sindh witnessed bumper wheat harvests this season, but profiteers and hoarders purchased and stored large quantities of wheat, preventing the government from procuring the required stocks.

He said the Sindh government launched a crackdown against hoarders, recovering 150,000 tonnes of wheat and compensating those from whom the grain was seized according to the government-notified procurement rates.

Sharjeel urged those still hoarding wheat to hand over their stocks to the government so that sufficient supplies could be made available in the market.

He said wheat prices had declined by 13 percent after the recovered stocks were released. The senior minister said Punjab and Sindh had adopted separate procurement policies. "There is no evidence that wheat has been transported from Punjab to Afghanistan, but there is evidence of wheat being moved from Sindh to Punjab," said Sharjeel.

He clarified that under the Constitution, no province could stop the movement of wheat to another province.