Islamabad:
While a sugar crisis persists in the country, officials shared on Tuesday with the Public Accounts Committee (CAP) the names of the 67 sweets which exported 750,000 tonnes of sugar worth RS111 billion to 21 countries in the past year.
At a CAP meeting chaired by Junaid Akbar, the secretary of industries and production said that in 2023-24, Pakistan had a surplus of 1.3 million tonnes, 790,000 tonnes were approved for export.
He said 1.9 million tonnes of sugar were still available in stock, which could last until November, adding that the sugar crushing season takes place from November 15 to March 15.
Despite these figures, several members of the committee expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation.
The National Food Security Secretary said that the average sugar retail price was RS173 per kg, but the members, whose Omar Ayub said that sugar had been sold for more than Rs200 in their constituencies.
Senator Fauzia Arshad said that sugar was hardly available on the market and that what was available was not deactivated for ordinary citizens.
PAC members have strongly criticized the government’s incoherent sugar policies – sugar exporting a year and the majority the next day. Mna Khawaja Shehraz Mehmood described it as “day theft” and said that the same companies making enormous benefits from exports now benefit from imports.
The MNA Amir Dogar has made direct allegations against political leaders, saying that the greatest number of sweets belong to President Asif Ali Zardari, politician Jahangir Tareen and the Sharif family.
He alleged that 287 billion rupees had gone into the pockets of some powerful individuals. The remarks caused animated arguments between Dogar and other members, including Senator Afnan Ullah of the PML-N and Shazia Marri of the PPP, which demanded that such serious statements be supported with evidence.
A new tension occurred when President Akbar asked why the list of sugar factors had not been submitted to the committee earlier.
The officials of the Federal Board of Return (FBR) assured that the list was now obtained and will be presented soon. He asked how long the sugar remains usable in storage, to which the secretary of industries replied that sugar begins to spoil after 3 to 4 months unless special precautions are taken.
The meeting was informed that the government planned to import 300,000 tonnes of sugar to meet demand before the start of the next overwhelming season. The legislators demanded that the government guarantee that this importation does not harm farmers and that sugar is not brought from countries where it was exported earlier.
The CAP has ordered all the ministries concerned to submit detailed reports and warned that future briefings would not be accepted without complete documentation.
According to the documents observed by the Express PK Press Club, JDW Sugar Mills dominated the list by exporting 73,000 metric tonnes of sugar worth RS11.1 billion. Tandlianwala Sugar Mills finished second with 41,412 metric tonnes worth 5.98 billion rupees.
Ramzan Sugar Mills exported sugar worth 2.41 billion rupees. Chaudhry Sugar Mills exported sugar worth 1.49 billion rupees while Al-Arabia Sugar Mills exported RS1.2 billion sugar. Pakistan’s auditor has revealed that sweets earned more than 300 billion rupees from recent sugar prices fluctuations.
