April 26, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1429

shipment, and the prime minister had extended the date for shipment, so there was no justification of forfeiture of performance bond.

When the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet had planned to import wheat, it was decided that the commodity must reach the seaport before March 31. However, the TCP issued tender papers for delivery of wheat before Feb 25 and the suppliers had submitted bonds of Rs300 million.

The FFC was constituted by former premier Shaukat Aziz to handle matters of wheat and to monitor its supply. The committee is still performing its job.

The TCP had returned the performance bond and other guarantees of $2,149,350 -- five per cent of the tender price of $42,987,000 — to the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) on Dec 17, 2007, instead of forfeiting them as it had refused to supply the required wheat and no action was taken against those responsible.