ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, has allowed the Gwadar Port Authority to hire the services of one of the three listed Chinese companies through bidding.
The proposal, submitted by the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, will be executed in accordance with the Framework Agreement, under section 21 of the PPRA Ordinance 2002, and Rule 5 of the PPRA Rules 2004.
The ECC meeting also approved the proposal for transfer of Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC) to Strategic Plans Division (SPD)/PAEC. While giving approval, the committee emphasised that the said transfer would take place by ensuring the due process and that the rights of HMC’s employees would be fully protected. An amount of Rs500 million was also approved to cover essential expenditures of the company, including salaries of the workers till June 2016.
Out of this amount, Rs253 million will be adjusted on account of salaries already paid to the HMC employees, as per approval given by the ECC. The SPD/PAEC officials on the occasion assured the committee that all efforts would be made to revive HMC.
The ECC members held detailed deliberations on the recommendations/report submitted by the committee, constituted under its directive last year, to review the pricing mechanism for RLNG.
The committee comprises of Secretary Finance Division (Convener), Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Secretary Ministry of Water and Power and Secretary Law. The ECC approved the recommendations/report of the committee and also gave consent for formally conveying them to OGRA as policy guidelines under section 21 of the OGRA Ordinance 2002.
