Taking serious notice of violation of its decision on the urea imports by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) through the Gwadar port, the government has decided to hold thorough probe pertaining to the matter.
An official source said the probe was ordered after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet learned at a recently held meeting that TCP was awarding contracts for urea imports at the Karachi port disregarding the committee’s directives that Gwadar port would be used for urea imports.
ECC took a serious note of violation of its earlier decision by TCP with respect to the import of urea through the Gwadar port and directed the Secretary Ports and Shipping to thoroughly probe the matter and submit report to the committee. It was decided by ECC in December 2008 that wheat, fertiliser and coal should be imported through Gwadar Port. This decision was again reiterated by ECC in its meeting on 26th April 2011 after considering the costs and benefits of imports through Gwadar.
At present Gwadar Port is offering free storage facilities of bagged bulk cargo approximating upto 250,000 tonnes. In the recent past over 140,000 tonnes of urea was stored at Gwadar port, free of cost, unlike any other port in Pakistan. The violation of the rules by TCP, a subordinate body of Ministry of Commerce, hindering the government’s plan of facilitating the Gwadar port, the source said.
TCP, the source said, had issued a tender notice on 9th July, 2011 for the purchase of 50,000 tons of imported urea on cost and freight basis through Karachi, Port Bin Qasim and Gwadar Ports. Subsequently, on 17th June 2011, Multi commerce LLC USA was selected as the lowest bidder for the quantity of 50,000 tons of urea, for supply at any of the three ports. This supplier, shipped the urea consignment in 2 vessels of 25,000 tonnes each, and TCP directed them that Port Bin Qasim would be the discharge port for these two vessels. A vessel named “M.V HAI YU” arrived at Port Bin Qasim with 26,200 tonnes of urea on July 31, 2011 and sailed on 15th August 2011 after discharging. Another vessel named “MV IOANTHI” arrived at the same port with 19,506 tonnes of urea on 23rd August, 2011. The total quantity that arrived at Port Bin Qasim was 45,706 tonnes of urea.
