Our Correspondent
Lahore
Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) urged the departments to expedite their progress in the preview of sugar commission report, as first time government made public such type of report to address the irregularities at large scale.
The PBF Vice President and FPCCI Former Chairman Standing Committee on Agriculture, Ahmad Jawad said sugar cane farmers are also eager of their stuck payments before sugar mills which is in billions in the light of sugar commission report.
Jawad said the provincial governments to remove the sugar mills illegally installed in cotton areas and restore the cotton belt as per crop zones. They also called for removing the illegal enhanced capacity of sugar mills and return them to original and approved capacity.
The amount paid less to sugarcane growers in 2017-18 as well in 2019 and proved by the commission report may be recovered from the identified mills and returned to sugarcane growers, immediately.
The sugarcane prices paid to farmers in 2017-18 are far less than the documents of the mills showing, as that was paid to middle man, not to farmer. A farmer was getting Rs. 120 to 130 per 40kg of sugarcane, with a 5- 10% reduction in weight in the name of unclean cane and trash, so the actual price a farmer had received in 2017-18 would be Rs. 90-100 per 40 kg.
