Sugar trouble carries on

Customers incensed about pricey, substandard sugar.

RAWALPINDI: The residents of Rawalpindi city were not able to purchase sugar at subsidised rates for three consecutive days. From Sunday to Tuesday, long queues were witnessed for hours outside the 15 sale points set up by the government for obtaining sugar at Rs63 per kg.

Many customers also complained that despite the directions of the Punjab Government, the district administration could not ensure availability of sugar in general stores at subsidised rates. Anwar Zeb, a customer, told The Express Tribune said he had purchased five kg sugar at Rs525 instead of Rs360 from main Raja Bazaar. “Being an illiterate person, it is difficult for me to find the designated sale points,” he said.

Waqas Ahmad, a shopkeeper at Khayaban-e-Sir Syed Market, said it was not possible for him to manage sugar on subsidised rates at his general store.

He said the city administration had provided him substandard sugar at Rs69 per kg which had caused annoyance to his customers.

Muhammad Younas, another shopkeeper at Chungi No 4, said retailers were selling good quality sugar at Rs90 -105 per kg in Rawalpindi city. He argued that this was not a violation of the Punjab government’s directive to fix the price at Rs72 per kg at general stores as that rule applied to Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) imported sugar only, which was substandard.

District Revenue Officer Talat Mehmood Gondal told The Express Tribune that the administration was only responsible for ensuring sugar to retailers and it was not the district administration’s concern if the quality was substandard.

“While exercising our powers, we ensured the provision of sugar at Rs63 per kg on 15 sale points,” adding that the administration took strict action against violators and imposed hefty fines.

Customers also complained that the district administration did not answer phone calls for listening to their complaints. Nouman Qureshi, a resident of Dhoke Elahi Bakhsh near Committee Chowk, told The Express Tribune that there was no one to register his complaint when he called one of the complaint numbers inscribed on price lists provided by the city administration.

However, Islamabad administration claimed that they have ensured sugar to all general stores and prescribed sale points.

Deputy Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmad also said that the quality of sugar was the federal government’s concern.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2010.