ISLAMABAD, July 26: The issue of provision of wheat to the flour mills in the NWFP will be taken up with the prime minister and Punjab chief minister.

Federal Minister for Water and Power and Inter-Provincial Coordination Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao gave this assurance to a delegation of the NWFP chapter of Pakistan Flour Mills Association here on Monday.

The delegation, led by Mr Mohammad Naeem Butt, was in Islamabad to brief the minister about the problems faced by the flour mills of NWFP due to unavailability of wheat.

The situation had caused closure of mills, the delegation told the minister. Responding to their plea, Mr Sherpao said the ministry of inter-provincial coordination had been established precisely to resolve the issues of inter-provincial coordination. The government would take care of the interests of all the provinces on equal basis, he added.

There was a shortage of wheat in the country and, therefore, the government had decided to import one million tons of wheat. After this import, the minister said, the shortage of wheat in the country would be removed and all the flour mills would start operating. This would also result in the reduction of flour prices in NWFP, he added.