PESHAWAR: Responding to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who on Saturday called on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to take stern measures to prevent wheat and flour smuggling to Afghanistan, provincial food Minister Atif Khan reminded the federal government it was its responsibility to curb the smuggling of the commodity and not vice versa.
In a message on Sunday, Khan said that “first of all, flour was not being smuggled to Afghanistan. And, if at all, the commodity is being smuggled out, then it’s the federal government’s responsibility to curb it.”
The premier should hold federal departments accountable for that, he added.
Khan also reminded Sharif the agencies, including Customs, Frontier Corps and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which oversee the border management come under the federal government’s control.
He said during the government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) at the Centre, there was not any smuggling of the commodity.
“But if the wheat and flour are being smuggled out, the federal government should act to stop it,” he added.
He further demanded of Prime Minister Sharif to ensure the wheat transportation from Punjab after lifting an embargo on the provincial flour transportation.
The minister said there was no dearth of flour and the province had enough stock of it. He denied any hike in the flour price.
