Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, Barrister Shahzad Akbar said that the government has decided to refer to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) the issue of Rs29 billion subsidy provided to the sugar industry and would have tasked other federal agencies with investigating various aspects of the issue.
The government released a report last month from the Sugar Forensic Commission (SFC) to investigate and determine blame for the commodity ‘s recent shortage and price hike in the country.
Speaking with Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz at a press conference in Islamabad, the PM ‘s assistant said Prime Minister Imran Khan was chairing a high-level meeting in which he endorsed recommendations on an action plan against beneficiaries named in the sugar investigation report.
During the meeting, he said seven major acts were recommended, and the Premier agreed to submit a reference to NAB of the subsidies provided in the country since 1985.
Akbar said it would also launch an investigation to find out where provincial laws have been breached. “The owners of sugar mills improved their capacities without officially showing it to maximize profits. Most notably, some mills didn’t pay farmers their duties on time, and showed more rate on sugarcane harvesting. That will be investigated by the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh anti-corruption units”, he said.
Shortly after Akbar’s press conference on Sunday, in an apparent reference to Jahangir Tareen, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said the government was preaching accountability after helping powerful “ATMs” flee the country.
Extracted from City42 News
