APCSA warns of new crisis of fruit, vegetable after flour

Lahore: All Pakistan Cold Storage Association (APCSA) Central Chairman Rehman Aziz Chan on Thursday urged the government to withdraw the decision of moving the industrial connections of cold storages to commercial tariff as it is a black law.

He was speaking at the meeting of the association. Senior Vice

Chairman Chaudhry Akram Arain, Senior Vice Chairman of Punjab Region Chaudhry Arshad Hussain, Haji Abdul Sattar, Hassan Mehmood, Regional Chairman of KPK Ahmed Jamshed, Senior Vice Chairman Ghulam Murtaza, Regional Chairman of Balochistan Agha Abdul Wahid, Regional Chairman of Sindh were present in the meeting. Shahid Hussain Solangi and Islamabad Chairman Malik Shakeel Ahmed, Executive Council Chaudhry Faisal Jalil, Adnan Malik, Mian Atiqur Rahman, Vice Chairman Arsalan Javed were also present.

Rehman Aziz Chan said that this move would increase the price of stored items by Rs.2.50 per KG. He said that the motors were installed in the cold stores which were registered as Industry entity.

He added that this sector was 100 years old and for the first time, this association had come forward with its demands after being registered. He said that with this measure, vegetables and fruits would become many times more expensive and the farmers would not store vegetables and fruits which would create food security challenge in the country and a new crisis would arise after flour.

Mian Rehman Aziz Chan said that in terms of population in Pakistan, cold storages are already many times less which instead of increase, were decreasing now. The government should solve this problem immediately. He said that at present, food security was a huge problem in the country. About 2 million tons of potato was stored in the cold stores for one year. Apart from this, other fruits and vegetables were also stored in the cold stores which is a huge number for the food security of Pakistan.

He said that this year, All Pakistan Cold Stores Association has set a rate of Rs. 980 for the entire of Pakistan for the first time in the history. This rate includes escalation clause. That is, if the increase in the electricity rate is more than five percent, the farmers will be charged an additional rate. This rate will be assess every quarter and these fruits and vegetables are stored in it for one year.