Ahead of Eid al-Adha, also called the "Sacrifice Feast", the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, vendors selling fruit and vegetables in Islamabad are charging outrageous prices.
The vendors are selling produce without displaying the approved rate lists, apparently with the complicity of officials of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and Capital Development Authority (CDA). People are of the view that the ICT and CDA administrations have failed to control overcharging and to maintain the quality of food items.
Due to negligence by the local authorities, shopkeepers continue overcharging customers in various markets of the city. Similarly, no one can question shopkeepers about the quality of edibles and other daily-use items. "The prices of fruits and vegetables are sky-rocketing and there is no one to control them, if we ask shopkeepers about price lists, they become angry and ask us to go to some other shop", said Mehwish Shahid, a housewife who was busy in shopping at Khanapul.
Several people said they had frequently tried to lodge a complaint against the unavailability of price lists, but no one answered their phone calls. Due to ever-increasing inflation, even relatively affordable items like tomato, onion and potato, the basic ingredients in most of Pakistani foods, are getting beyond the common man's reach because of unjust and high profit margins.
When contacted, an official of the Islamabad Market Committee said it was the responsibility of the ICT administration to issue price lists to shopkeepers' daily while the CDA was responsible for checking the quality of food. The ICT administration was responsible for issuing price lists and taking action against those shopkeepers who did not display the list, he said.
He said that Islamabad Market Committee established a `Complaint Cell' to address the problems being faced by the customers and the authority would impose heavy fines and close the shops concerned.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk
