PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Pakistan Flour Mill Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday criticised the provincial government for its silence over the unconstitutional and illegal restrictions on the movement of wheat from Punjab.
Speaking at a press conference at the Chamber House here on Wednesday, SCCI President Junaid Altaf and PFMA provincial Chairman Naeem Butt said KP was dependent on Punjab to fulfill its wheat requirements.
SCCI senior vice president Muhammad Nadeem and vice president Sabir Ahmad Bangash were also present.
They said the Punjab government had imposed an ‘illegal’ ban on wheat supply, which was an open violation of Article 151 of the Constitution. They expressed fear that the province would face a severe flour crisis if the ‘illegal’ ban on wheat supply was not lifted by the Punjab government immediately.
They said a protest would be launched across the province if federal and provincial governments failed to resolve this serious issue.
They demanded that the government allow the import of wheat at the provincial level if the ban on wheat transportation from Punjab wasn’t lifted.
SCCI president Junaid Altaf said that more than 300 flourmills were facing a crisis-like situation due to the ban on wheat supply from Punjab. He said the federal and Punjab governments must protect the rights of small federating units, demanding that the Punjab chief minister to lift the ban to avert any flour crisis in the province.
PFMA KP Chairman Naeem Butt said that the total wheat requirement of KP stood at around 53,000 metric tonnes against its production of merely 12,000 metric tonnes, adding that KP faced a shortfall of 41,000 metric tonnes, which would be met by Punjab. Later, Junaid Altaf and Naeem Butt accompanied by millers and members, blocked the main GT road in protest and chanted slogans against the ‘illegal’ ban on wheat movement from Punjab.
