PESHAWAR, Oct 21 (APP):Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday directed the authorities to immediately stop supply of harmful and substandard wheat to flour mills, stressing the need to ensure protection of wheat stocks and quality of food items.
He issued these directives while presiding over a meeting regarding the supply of substandard wheat from Azakhel wheat godown to flour mills, where the Governor Inspection Team presented its inquiry report to him.
Chairman Governor Inspection Team Mukhtar Ahmad briefed the Governor that the team inspected the 150-kanal Azakhel wheat godown, where six warehouses in two blocks were affected by floodwater. He said samples of flood-affected wheat were sent to PCSIR laboratory, which declared the damaged wheat harmful to human health and unfit for human consumption.
According to the inquiry report, necessary safety measures were not taken to protect the wheat godown from floodwater. Despite flood alerts issued by PDMA, precautionary measures were not adopted, while the Food Department also failed to constitute an assessment committee for technical evaluation of the affected wheat after the floods.
The report recommended action against officials responsible for negligence. During the meeting, Governor Kundi questioned why a protective wall had not been constructed around the wheat godown despite repeated floods. He was informed that rain and floodwater entered the godown through holes in the protective wall, damaging the wheat.
The Governor was further informed that there was no entry of flood-affected wheat in the Food Department’s stock record and no scientific assessment of the damaged wheat had been conducted.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi directed that responsibility should be fixed in the matter and emphasized effective measures for protection of wheat reserves and ensuring food quality.
Source: APP (Associated Press of Pakistan)
