Nationalise; no sugar at Rs40 per kg

ISLAMABAD - Sugar millers/traders are not ready to sell sugar at Rs 40 per kilogram whatever decision comes from the Supreme Court against the writ petition filed by all the four provinces and the Centre.
The provinces and the federal government have filed a writ petition in Supreme Court requesting to make its decision flexible regarding the sale of sugar at Rs 36 ex-mill price. The government in the favour of sugar millers has said that the sale of the product on the said price was not feasible for the millers and the decision could create distortion in the market.
It is up to the Supreme Court what decision it takes against the petition of the government but the millers are not ready to sell the product at the said price. According to sources of sugar industry, the sale of the product at the given price is not viable for the industry.
A miller claimed that the cost of the product is more than Rs 38 per kilogram for the mill owner and asked, How can they sell it at a price even lower than its cost? He said the government has understood their point and the same they expect from the Supreme Court; otherwise it would lead to a total disaster and implementation of any anti-industry decision would not be possible.
However, he said that they are hopeful from the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take the decision keeping in view the interests of all the stakeholders. He said that most of the stock has been sold by the mills at a price more than or equal to Rs 43 per kilogram that now lies with the traders.
Now in this situation, how is it possible for the wholesalers and traders to sell their product at a price lesser than their purchase? the miller asked. It would not be possible for the government to enforce such decision that would bring loss to the business community, he added.
If one recalls past few weeks events, it will make you believe that it is not possible to implement the said price in the market, as the Lahore High Court has given its verdict to sell the product at Rs 40 per kilogram but there is no evidence that the commodity is being sold at this price, the miller said.
When approached, a trader dealing in sugar said requesting anonymity, We have purchased the product at Rs 43 or more so it is not possible for us to sell it on a lesser price and the authorities must understand our situation.
He further said if there is any wrongdoing or overcharging for the product, it has been done by the millers and the traders have nothing to do with that. But whatever it is, it has happened and has become so much complicated that nobody is in a position to resolve it, he added.
Yes only one thing is possible for the government that it should be very vigilant in the future and control the things from very start so that this type of situation should be avoided in future, he said.
When approached, an official of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture just asked some questions: Who would be responsible for the enforcement of any decision taken by the Supreme Court? The answer is the public office holders and those are politicians who have their own mills. So lowering the price of the product just cant be implemented.
A sugar miller, however, insisted that it was not the matter that the politicians owned sugar mills, but, in reality, it was not possible for them to digest the decision of the Lahore High Court thats why they approached the government to review the matter.
The government in response has filed a petition in Supreme Court for them, the miller said.
To a question about filing a petition to nationalise the sugar mills, he said that it was better to do that than forcing the industry to run business in loss.