Early warning: ‘K-P will face wheat shortage in September, October’

QWP chief says the caretaker government did not buy enough stock for the province.

PESHAWAR:

Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao warned on Saturday that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) will face a shortage of wheat during September and October.

Speaking to journalists at the Peshawar Press Club, Aftab said the province would face a shortage because the caretaker government had not bought enough wheat. “This year around 300,000 tonnes of wheat was bought as compared to 4,000,000 tonnes bought last year,” he claimed.

Talking about the federal budget, Aftab said: “The increase of sales tax from 16 to 17 % will cause a price hike. This is regressive taxation.” He maintained it would have been better if the government had widened the tax base.

“Withdrawing the exemption of income tax from certain districts of K-P and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas is unjust to the flood and militancy-affected locals,” Aftab said.

The QWP chief also questioned the government’s decision of allocating Rs1 billion for the completion of the Lowari Tunnel in Chitral when the amount needed was Rs10 billion.



The press conference was held to announce that Tahir Wasim Advocate, social worker and former DI Khan bar association president, former MPA Salma Babar and various elders from DI Khan would be joining the QWP.

Speaking on the occasion, Irrigation Minister Sikandar Sherpao said the government did not get enough time to set priorities for the upcoming provincial budget.

Sikandar said the government would concentrate on building small water dams for more power generation. “Water is a huge need for the province; however the Rs80 billion allocated in the previous Public Sector Development Programme for irrigation development in K-P was not handed over to us,” Sikandar claimed.

“Under the 1991 water accord, K-P is using two million acre feet of water less than its original share,” said the irrigation minister. “To compensate for our water loss, we are going to ask the federal government to give us other schemes to develop our irrigation infrastructure.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2013.