Experts fear that ‘not fit for human consumption’ wheat will
ultimate be bought by the erring flour mills and sold to the consumers. Even if
it is bought by chicken feed mills, the birds eating contaminated feed will not
be suitable for human consumption.
Technically the government should burn this wheat to save chickens
and human beings.
Going such a large quantity stale raises various questions:
1) why appropriate steps were not taken to save this quantity from going stale?
2) Why there was delay in release of the quantity to flour mills when market
was experience shortfall? Will any action be taken against those who are
responsible for this crime?
It is estimated that going stale of such a big quantity
would cause over PKR20 million to the nation. The Government is already
spending foreign exchange on the import of wheat, leading to waste of precious
foreign exchange. On top of all the incapacity of the government has raised
flour price in the local market and added to the miseries of the poor people.
This highlights the inadequate storage capacity available
with PASSCO and provincial departments. The successive governments have failed
miserably in the construction of grain storage silos.
Reportedly, the aggregate wheat storage capacity of PSSACO
and provincial food departments is less than 2.5 million tons as against an average
crop size of nearly 30 million tons. It must be remembered that these are
flatbed warehouses where wheat is kept in bags.
Another question can be raised, if PASSCO and provincial food departments do not have adequate storage, why the government has given these the mandate to be the sole buyers of wheat?
