Allegedly defaulted on delivery: centre provided list of eight sugar mills of influential politicians

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has provided a list of eight sugar mills of influential politicians to the federal government which allegedly defaulted on sugar delivery and led to sugar crisis in the country, official sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday.
According to the tender terms and conditions, TCP can not force the defaulting parties to deliver sugar except to invoke clause 8(e) of the terms and conditions of the tender/agreement signed with them.
The said clause inserted by a former Chairman TCP, provides that in case the sugar mill(s) failed to replace or deliver the purchased sugar, the sugar mill(s) shall immediately refund the entire payment along with the mark-up at the prevailing rate and a penalty of 25 percent of the payment made.
The details of amounts recovered from the defaulting sugar mills which have not delivered nor replaced TCP's paid for sugar stocks as of December 24, 2010 are as follow: (i) M/s Kashmir Sugar Mills Limited- Rs 292,899,330;(ii) M/s Haseeb Waqas Sugar Mills Limited-Rs 22,500,000;(iii) M/s Abdullah ( ex-Yousuf Sugar Mills Limited-Rs 23,000,000;(iv) M/s Abdullah Sugar Mills Limited-Rs 28,000,000;(v) M/s T.M.K. Sugar Mills Limited-Rs 5,000,000;(vi) M/s Seri Sugar Mills Limited-Rs 3,000,000;(vii) M/s Tandilianwala Sugar Mills Limited(three units)- Rs 418,027,584 and;(viii) M/s Fatima Sugar Mills Limited-Rs 41,060,884.
Defaulter mills are of Chief Minister Punjab, his close relatives and friends of Prime Minister, Gilani.
The payments of claims to TCP for reneging of contracts by the sugar mills is clearly tantamount to a breach of trust, said a stakeholder.
The sources said, under the circumstances, TCP had no alternative, except to claim refund of the paid amount of sugar along with mark-up at the prevailing rate and the penalty of 25 percent of the payment made. Fresh legal notices to all the defaulting firms have been issued for early settlement.
The entire problem when the supreme court initiated action was because of non supply of sugar by these mills to utility stores. These mills did not allow lifting and were thus the perpetrators of the entire sugar crisis in the country, he maintained.
TCP only bought sugar to facilitate payments to growers and the stocks were meant to be kept in trust for the government and public as strategic reserves and to control the price increase by timely releases. These mills made a killing by selling sugar at higher rates in collusion with TCP.