Time
to declare war on sugar!
Shakir Lakhani
FEBRUARY 26, 2019
The sugar industry in Pakistan (most of which is controlled by
politicians sitting in our assemblies) is perhaps the biggest drain on the
country’s economy. Despite running on losses, the sugar barons manage to have
lavish lifestyles and get elected to parliament, where they exercise their
powers to get loans written off. Surely in these times of crisis, when the
country is struggling for survival, the time has come to make the sugar mafia
contribute (however slightly) to the national exchequer. In fact, I wouldn’t be
wrong in saying that we should immediately declare a war on them, considering
that they have accumulated wealth beyond belief due to government policies
supporting them.
To begin with, don’t forget that sugar is responsible for almost
all the diseases which we suffer from. From diabetes to heart attacks to
glaucoma, those who consume man-made sugar are liable to die much earlier than
those who don’t. Pakistan’s per capita consumption of sugar is very high,
higher even than India’s. A sugar-heavy diet is linked to increased risk of
heart disease, diabetes, poor dental health, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and obesity.
Yet our government subsidises sugar mills by adopting a number
of measures such as guaranteed minimum prices for sugarcane, sugar
protectionist import tariff of 40 percent, subsidised transport costs and
domestic freight, reduced export taxes, and export quotas. These measures have
contributed to maintaining sugar prices on the domestic market, which are
higher than the international ones. In fact, the government and the public can
benefit if we consume imported sugar, which is actually cheaper than the
locally manufactured sugar, rather than help the sugar mafia get richer. But
since sugar barons are so influential, no government dares risk offending them.
To get an idea of how much sugar barons are pampered, just
consider that they have to pay practically nothing for the water they use.
Pakistan’s sugar industry is the most inefficient in the world, using 7,000
liters of water to produce one kilogram of sugar compared to 2,000 liters per
one kilogram of sugar in other countries. Even if we assume 5,000 liters of
water are used for one kilogram of sugar and five million tons of the white
stuff is produced every year (instead of six million tons this year), sugar
mills consume an obscene 25 trillion liters of water a year. This is equivalent
to the storage capacity of three Tarbela dams! Rather than investing in mega
dams, should we not instead force sugar producers to halt this immense wastage
of water?
So the first thing the government should do is to give
incentives to sugar cane growers to switch over to crops which do not consume
so much water (like rice and wheat). Secondly, a defense surcharge of Rs. 20
per kilo should be levied on sugar. Of course, no one should resist, as this
tax (which will yield at least a hundred billion rupees annually) will be used
for the protection of the country. If there is opposition to this move from
sugar mill owners, it can be recovered from retailers. And to the common man,
it will mean an extra expenditure of a maximum of only Rs. 500 per year (as the
per capita consumption of sugar in the country is 25 kilos per year).
The writer is an engineer, a former visiting lecturer at NED
Engineering College, an industrialist
Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2019.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/358703/time-to-declare-war-on-sugar/
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