Observer Report
Islamabad
Leader of the business community and former President ICCI Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday said federal and provincial governments have failed to safeguard rights of the masses and control the hoarders and profiteers. In a statement issued here, he said that the failure of authorities having all the resources is beyond the understanding of the common person who is now frustrated. Shahid Rasheed said that verbal threats have not deterred the mafia rather it has encouraged them to make the life of 220 million people a living hell.
Masses who were already uneasy over economic conditions and lockdown feels that they have been left on the mercy of mafia, he said. He added that the flour that has been provided to the masses on so-called economical rates is not even fit for consumption of animals.
The business leader said that earlier the government used to claim that there are surplus stocks of wheat in the country and now they have started telling masses about the shortage while recently top government functionaries shocked the nation by telling that around sixty million tonnes of wheat is missing. Shahid Rasheed said that imports were delayed for months which benefitted the mafia while now the imports were allowed but conditions were not made favourable for importers which added to the crisis. For the very same reason, the price of flour could not be stabilized over the last five months and not a single kilogram of wheat has been imported in the country, he noted. The country needs to import at least 2.5 million tonnes of wheat every month until the new crop is ready which is beyond the capacity of the private sector, he said. The government has now decided to overcome shortages and price manipulation with the help of so-called tiger force which is a joke, the former President ICCI said, adding that how come masses trust the government for running affairs when they have failed to control the wheat mafia.
