Ministry asked to cancel wheat tender: Prime Minister Secretariat objects to ill-timed import

The Prime Minister Secretariat has taken strong exception to ill-timed move to import wheat and directed the food ministry to cancel the second tender of 0.15 million tonnes of commodity, besides explaining its position in writing as to why the summary on such an important issue was not referred to the Federal Cabinet for final approval, it has been learnt reliably.
In its directive to the food ministry, the Prime Minister Secretariat said the import of wheat was a crucial issue, which should have been decided at the Federal Cabinet level.
It has termed the decision to import wheat, at a time when sufficient commodity stocks were available in the country, as meaningless and sheer waste of foreign exchange.
An official told Business Recorder that the food ministry is likely to convene a meeting of all the departments concerned soon, to prepare explanation for the Prime Minister Secretariat.
He said the food ministry had embarked upon an ambitious plan to import wheat last month, contrary to its own reports that adequate commodity stocks were available with the provincial food departments and Passco in addition to 0.6 million tonnes of commodity which was hoarded by the private sector.
The job of floating international tenders and finding a suitable supplier was assigned to Passco.
It acted swiftly and floated tender for import 0.15 million tonnes of commodity.
The offers were received which were submitted to the wheat disposal committee, which met under the chairmanship of Federal Food Minister Sardar Yar Mohammed Rind, who termed the lowest offer of $214 FoB for a tonne much too high, and directed Passco to re-negotiate the rates with the parties to get them reduced.
But with a gap of one week, the food minister himself approved the offer of Tradesman International, a Karachi-based party, at $224.75 FoB for a tonne for 0.150 million tonnes.
The food ministry did not stop even with one tender. It actually opted for a repeat order of the same quantity, without taking considering that the first transaction was already under heavy criticism.
The story invited bitter criticism from the public and media. This got attention of the Prime Minister Secretariat, which has moved timely to block the move meant to cause loss of million of rupees to the national exchequer for deriving personnel benefits.