SAB Demands Action Against Federal Agency Causing Serious Damage To Crops

The Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) has appealed to the Prime Minister Imran Khan to urgently look into the affairs of Department of Plant Protection (DPP) under Ministry of National Food Security & Research of his government before it is too late as the way the department currently discharges its obligations could cause irreparable damage to the agriculture and public health in the country

KARACHI (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / NNI - 22nd March, 2019) The Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) has appealed to the Prime Minister Imran Khan to urgently look into the affairs of Department of Plant Protection (DPP) under Ministry of National Food Security & Research of his government before it is too late as the way the department currently discharges its obligations could cause irreparable damage to the agriculture and public health in the country.In a press statement issued here on Friday, the SAB President Abdul Majeed Nizamani, said that all the evidence of the recent past had undeniably suggested that the DPP had been involved in the same acts, which it was meant to prevent by virtue of its charter.Mr.

Nizamani said that the DPP had failed miserably in checking and preventing import of such agricultural and edible commodities to Pakistan, which proved seriously harmful both to crops and public health.He said that recent instances of import of Soybean to Pakistan had proved once more beyond any doubt that corruption had was rife in the affairs of the DPP so much so that its officials and inspectors had been working unscrupulously just for the achievement of their vested interests with no regard for general good of the citizens and economy of the country that heavily relies on the agriculture sector.He said that incumbent Prime Minister had the agenda of weeding out corruption from the country as the DPP should be on the top of his list of departments where corrupt practices had to be overcome to protect health of the citizens and to ensure survival of the Agro-economy of the country.He said that there were recent instances where the import consignments brought to port in Karachi contained defective and infected Soybeans of such low quality that they should not be given permission to move into Pakistan for edible oil production.The SAB chief said that situation had become so inflammable in the DPP that its officials had been blatantly ignoring the reports of laboratory examination of the import samples, which clearly suggests that the consignment of the edible commodity is highly unfit both for industrial and human consumption.

He said that infected consignments of the Soybeans and other edible commodities were transported from the ports of Karachi in such an unprotected and unchecked manner that crops in the fields on both sides of the inter-city highways caught deadly plant infections and diseases.He said that the per-acre yield of crops in the province had been phenomenally decreasing as the agricultural tracts were getting polluted due to unchecked transportation of such consignments from one part of the country to another.Mr.

Nizamani said that the DPP had completely stopped proper treatment of edible and agricultural consignments being imported to Pakistan whose quality and status didn't comply with food safety and regulatory regime of Pakistan.He said that last month the DPP officials had released the Soybean consignment brought to Karachi from the USA on board a merchant vessel namely BOTTIGLIER FRANCO VELA despite the fact that reports from the accredited laboratory of the University of Karachi to the effect that import samples clearly showed that it was unfit for human health.He said that another merchant vessel Hong Yaun containing another batch of unfit Soybean consignment had been present at Port Qasim in Karachi as it is strongly feared that this consignment would again be released by the DPP in the coming day in total disregard to the lab reports indicating serious defects and diseases in the Soybean sample.The SAB president also appealed to the Sindh Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister to take cognizance of the situation and set up a liaison with the Federal authorities concerned so that due safety measures could be taken to safeguard the agricultural production of the province and protect human health.

NNI