Govt refuses to bow down before ‘sugar mafia’

ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (NNI): The government has refused to surrender before the powerful sugar millers who are pressing the government to allow the export of one million tonnes of sugar.
The federal finance minister Ishaq Dar and the office bearers of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) held a meeting in Islamabad to consider the availability of sugar stocks in the country, starting of sugarcane crushing season, and the demand of the PSMA for the export of surplus sugar.
However, the government and sugar mill owners failed to reach at any consensus over the proposal as the PSMA failed to inform the federal government about the stocks of sugar situation.
The National Food Security Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema said that the Sugar Mills Association did not inform the government about the overall stock situation, adding that there is a fear of 40% reduction in sugarcane production in Sindh due to the floods. He said that exports cannot be allowed until the stock situation is clear. It is feared that by allowing the export to the government, the price of sugar will increase locally.
The federal finance minister while rejecting the claims of the sugar mills for having an abundance of sugar had barred the sugar mills from exporting sugar.
On the other hand, there will be another round of negotiations with the Sugar Mills Association on Thursday. The association had earlier warned the government that the sugarcane crushing season will not start until the export of one million tonnes of sugar is allowed.
PSMA has claimed that it is necessary to start the crushing season by November 30, but sugar mills already have surplus stocks from the last season, amounting to more than one million tonnes, which was enough to meet the national sugar requirements till January 15.- NNI