LAHORE: The Punjab Food Department has issued a formal notification after the in-principle approval of the Cabinet imposing strict restrictions on sugar traders in connection with its probe into a steep hike in its price in the province.
According to the notification issued under Sugar Supply Chain Management Order 2021, the Cane Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner will have full authority to take action and sell in case of a sugar shortage.
If the stock of sugar decreases, the Deputy Commissioners will have to be informed, the notification said, adding under the new law, no dealer or wholesaler will be able to buy sugar without registration.
Warehouses of sugar mills and dealers will be registered and only an authorized dealer would be able to buy and sell sugar, the authorities said. Besides, no factory will be able to sell sugar to unregistered dealers, wholesalers and brokers. The entire system of buying and selling sugar can now be regulated.
Earlier, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had conducted raids at the residences of a number of sugar dealers in various cities of Punjab in connection with its probe into a steep hike in the price of the commodity last year and nabbed a gang allegedly part of a powerful sugar mafia.
According to sources in the FIA, the gang helped in creating a shortage of the commodity through hoarding – a fake scarcity that resulted in the increase of the mill price of sugar from Rs70 to Rs90 in just one year.
The mafia also allegedly minted Rs110billion through illegal speculation and used hundreds of fake bank accounts to transfer the ill-gotten money. The sources claimed that the gang was apparently backed by large sugar mills owned by political personalities.
