Tag: sugar crisis

  • Tareen & sugar crisis: ‘Imran feeling betrayed, thinking he bet on the wrong horse’

    Tareen & sugar crisis: ‘Imran feeling betrayed, thinking he bet on the wrong horse’

    With the damning investigation report on the recent sugar crisis making headlines and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Jahangir Khan Tareen being named as one of the people who allegedly benefited from the economic disaster, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, to whom Tareen has always been more than just a colleague, is feeling betrayed, The News has reported.

    Earlier this year, following the shortage of wheat flour in the country and the subsequent price hike, sugar had also gone missing from the market. Taking notice of the situation, the premier had formed a committee to find out those responsible for the crises.

    On Saturday, the inquiry report on sugar crisis had named PTI bigwig Tareen, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Moonis Elahi and a relative of then minister for national food security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar as the beneficiaries of the price hike.

    On Sunday, PM Imran had said that he was waiting for the detailed forensic reports, slated to come out on April 25, before taking any action against those responsible and on Monday he had reshuffled the federal cabinet which saw Bakhtiar being replaced. Tareen was also removed from the Agriculture Task Force among other changes.

    Soon after the reshuffle, reports claimed that the premier was “feeling betrayed by once his closest aide Tareen”, who, despite having been disqualified by the apex court, was given the informal role of deputy PM to help the PTI government deliver.

    “Tareen was given immense power, informally, to reform the agriculture sector, his choice men were appointed in the cabinet as well as in the bureaucracy both in the Centre and Punjab. But, it all ended up not only in failures but caused major scandals of wheat and sugar,” the report said and further claimed that Tareen had “thoroughly disappointed Imran, who now thinks that he had bet on a wrong horse”.

    The latest reshuffle in the cabinet and bureaucracy, these report said, was a clear message for all and sundry both within the PTI and in the government that Tareen was out and so was his influence. “With these changes, the PTI Jahangir Tareen group meets its end.”

    It also said that what happened on Monday was not the climax and “a lot will happen after April 25 when the Sugar Commission will submit its report on how the sugar mafia operates”.

    “There will be criminal proceedings, possible arrests and institutional actions by [the] FBR [Federal Board of Revenue], SECP [Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan] etc,” it added.

  • Imran vows to go after profiteers as he delivers on promise of probing sugar, wheat crises

    Imran vows to go after profiteers as he delivers on promise of probing sugar, wheat crises

    Fulfilling his promise of ensuring transparency and accountability in governance, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has not only made the inquiry reports into the sugar and wheat shortage public but also ordered the formation of a commission to conduct a forensic audit of the sugar mills, including JDW that is owned by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Jahangir Tareen.

    As per the details, a report by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday claimed that top PTI members were among those who gained from the recent sugar crisis in the country. An investigation into the crisis had been ordered by Prime Minister Imran Khan in February.

    Among the people named in the FIA report are Tareen and Makhdum Omer Shehryar, a relative of Minister for National Food Security Khusro Bakhtiar, Geo reported.

    According to the report, sugar price was increased from Rs 55 per kg in December 2018 to Rs 71.44 per kg in June 2019, despite the fact that the General Sales Tax (GST) increase was implemented from July 1, 2019. After the export of sugar in January 2019, its price started increasing immediately in the local market.

    The major beneficiaries of the subsidy offered by the government on export of sugar include RYK Group, owned and controlled by Shehryar, which availed 15.83 per cent of the total export subsidy amounting to Rs3.944 billion. Chaudhry Munir and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) senior leader Moonis Elahi are also partners in this group.

    JDW Group owned and controlled by Tareen availed 12.28 per cent of the total export subsidy amounting to Rs3.058bn, while Hunza Sugar Mills availed 11.56 per cent of the total subsidy amounting to Rs 2.879bn. Hunza Sugar Mills is owned by Muhammad Waheed chaudry, Idrees Chaudhry and Saeed Chaudhry.

    Sugar mills owned by the Sharif family availed 5.91 per cent of the total export subsidy amounting to Rs1.472bn.

    The document does not mention under whose influence the Punjab government issued subsidies to sugar mills or why the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) approved the decision to export sugar.

    Reacting to the report, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said he has faith that whatever the situation, PM Imran “will ensure justice”.

    Tareen, PTI’s former general secretary, said that out of the Rs3 billion subsidy to the sugar mills, Rs2.5 billion were given when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was in power.

    Meanwhile, it has been reported that the commission due to submit its report on April 25 has started working and nine teams are already on the ground for carrying out forensic analysis of 10 sugar mills, including Alliance Sugar mills Ghotki, Al-Arabia Sugar Mills Sargodha, Al-Moiz 1 Sugar Mills DI Khan, Al-Moiz 2 Sugar Mills Mianwali, Hamza Sugar Mills RY Khan, Hunza 1 and Hunza 2 Sugar Mills Faisalabad and Jhang, and JDW 1,2, and 3 Sugar Mills RY Khan and Ghotki.

  • Jahangir Tareen announces selling 20,000 tonnes of sugar for Rs67 per kg

    Jahangir Tareen announces selling 20,000 tonnes of sugar for Rs67 per kg

    As sugar prices skyrocket following a severe shortage in major parts of the country, senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and owner of JDW Sugar Mills Limited — the largest white sugar producer in the country –, Jahangir Khan Tareen, has announced to sell whopping 20,000 tonnes of the commodity for just Rs67 per kilogramme (kg).

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Tareen said that Sugar Mills Association, in a bid to control inflating prices of sugar, had decided to provide Utility Stores with 100,000 tonnes of the same at Rs70 per kg. “Out of my share, I will sell 20,000 tonnes at Rs67 per kg,” he added.

    It merits a mention that according to reports, JDW Sugar Mills Limited in January announced its financial results for the first quarter that ended on December 31, 2019, which showed that its revenue went up by 61.45% to Rs13.19 billion during the first quarter as compared to Rs8.17 billion recorded in the same period last year.

    The sugar division comprises three sugar mills units, JDW Unit-I, JDW Unit-II and JDW Unit-III in Rahim Yar Khan and Ghotki districts. It is one of the largest groups in the sugar sector and contributes approximately 15-17% of the country’s sugar production. It is also managing Sugarcane Corporate Farms over an area of 24,000 acres in Punjab and Sindh.

    While people allege that the government had a role to play in scoring Tareen these profits, as of last month, a serious case of sugar shortage emerged as the country already stumbled amid a wheat crisis.

    During the PTI government’s 15 months, sugar prices have shot up to as high as Rs64 a kilogram (kg). However, over the past week, the wholesale rate rose from Rs64 to Rs74 per kg and an acute shortage surfaced in the country. Last year, Pakistan produced 600,000 tonnes of sugar. Now, however, the wholesale rate of sugar is expected to reach Rs80 per kg, The News reported.

    Meanwhile, the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led PTI government has banned export of sugar and turned down a proposal to import the commodity in order to maintain prices in the domestic market.