‘Wheat situation stabilizing in country’
By Khalid Amin

ISLAMABAD—Caretaker Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Prince Muhammad Isa Jan Baloch has said that the availability of wheat in country is improving fast with the passage of time especially in Sindh province.
In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the minister said that to avert the immediate crises of shortage of wheat the provincial government should, in the next 10-15 days make liberal releases of wheat to their flour mills which will help bring the situation back to normal.
He requested provincial governments to ensure that the wheat released to the flour mills is actually grounded and the flour is made available to the consumers in abundant quantities. It is worth mentioning here that due to recent disturbances the market remained closed from 28-31 December 2007 causing shortage of flour through out the country. Consequently, the common man faced undue inconvenience in getting flour.
The government was fully alive to the situation and took all necessary measures to stabilize the position, the minister added saying that it is a good sign that flour mills have started their normal business and food departments of the provincial governments have also started releasing higher quantity of wheat to them for grinding and hoped that situation will further stabilize in the next 2-3 days.
The government is ensuring uninterrupted inter-provincial movement of wheat, he maintained adding that at the same time the government is interacting with TCP for expeditious import of 1.5 million tons of wheat. The Minister further said that more than 100,000 ton of wheat has already reached Karachi and an additional 105,000 tons will arrive within the next 3-4 days. This wheat will be distributed amongst the provinces to augment their stock.
The Minister stressed the provinces to monitor the situation on daily basis to ensure uninterrupted availability of atta to the consumers at reasonable prices till the arrival of new crop, which will start to come in the market in the last week of MSG/gm. The Minister said government is ensuring uninterrupted inter-provincial movement of wheat. At the same time the government is interacting with the TCP for expeditious import of 1.5 million tons of wheat.
More than 100,000 ton of wheat has already reached Karachi and an additional 105,000 tons will arrive within the next 3-4 days. This wheat will be distributed amongst the Provinces to augment their stocks.