Mian Zahid Hussain asks KP government to abide by ECC decisions

Lahore: President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has refused to abide by the ECC sugar export decision threatening farmers, their millions of dependents and billions of investments in the sugar sector.

Keeping in view the surplus sugar production, the ECC of the Cabinet on Dec 24, 2014 decided to allow export of 6.5 hundred thousand tonnes of sugar. Since local sugar was costly therefore a subsidy of Rs 10 per kg was announced to enable exporters to compete with others in the international market.

The federal government was asked to bear 50 percent of the subsidy burden while provinces were to pay the remaining 50 percent of the price.

Governments of Sindh and Punjab abided by the ECC decision resulting in export of four million tonnes of sugar while KP government refused to pay subsidy leaving sugar mills with no option but to stop payments to 2.5 lakh farmers on whom around two million people depends, said Mian Zahid Hussain.

He said that sugar mills in KP have over 10000 permanent employees while 25 thousand seasonal workers while billion have been invested in their sector which will be jeopardized if the cane millers bankrupted as they has already exhausted loan facility from banks which is 80 percent of the total production.

The veteran business leader said that the move of the KP government will result in wastage of surplus sugar which is a perishable item and closure of mills which will have an impact on revenue collection and job market.