Pakistan’s petrol shortage to be looked into by new commission

The federal cabinet has approved setting up a commission to investigate the petrol shortage in the country.

The establishment of the committee was announced by Information Minister Shibli Faraz in a press conference Tuesday evening.

Faraz said the cabinet has approved the constitution of a commission to inquire into the causes of petrol shortage last month. He said the commission will give recommendations to ensure that such a situation does not develop in future.

It will be decided later who will head the commission and who its members will be, it was decided in Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Wheat and sugar were discussed. The minister said wheat is being supplied to the flour mills in Punjab and the provincial government is providing Rs16 billion in subsidies. He, however, said that the private and public sectors have been directed to import wheat to meet the deficit of 1.5 million tonnes of wheat.

On the COVID-19 situation, Faraz said the trend of the cases had considerably declined due to the government’s effective smart lockdown policy.

He, however, warned that carelessness during Eidul Azha will again raise coronavirus cases and urged people to strictly follow the standard operating procedures.