KARACHI, Sept 15: A total of 532,538 tons of imported wheat has arrived in the country and about 325,051 tons has been delivered to the four provinces and the Utility Stores Corporation (USC).

An official of Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) said here on Monday, the imported wheat was directly being packed into jute bags and despatched to destinations through trucks, trailers and goods trains.

Giving break-up of deliveries he said that about 84,936 tons of wheat has been delivered to Sindh, 101,252 tons to Punjab, 98,360 tons to NWFP and 20,503 tons to Balochistan province.

He said that two ships MV SD Glory and MV Al-Qawicuy are discharging 49,520 tons and 35,647 tons of wheat, respectively, at Port Qasim while two more ship loaded with imported wheat are at the outer anchorage, one at PQ and the other at the Karachi Port.

TCP official said that the deliveries to the upcountry were being delayed at Haripur and D G Khan check posts despite repeated efforts for early clearance of consignments to Punjab and the NWFP.

He said that the TCP chairman had been contacting authorities for speedy clearance of consignments at these check posts, but to no avail.

It may be noted that the TCP had awarded contracts for the supply of 1.516 million tons of wheat from worldwide sources to meet the domestic shortage.

—APP