KARACHI: Federal Minister for Ports & Shipping Senator Kamran Michael has said that Gwadar Port will be made fully functional in next five months as almost 60 per cent of development work has been completed.
The federal minister said this while addressing the inaugural session of 3rd International Conference & Exhibition on Shipping, Logistics & Supply Chain Management 2013. The event was organised by the Publicity Channel in collaboration with Ministry of Ports & Shipping, Pakistan International Freight Forwarding Association, Pakistan Shipping Agents Association and Air Cargo Agents Association.
The federal minister said that government is striving to extend trade avenues and boosting business in the country. “We are going to buy four oil tankers for our fleet after which will be able to extend fleet of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) up to 15 by the end of this year,” he told.
Kamran Michael said that ship breaking industry is being moved to Port Qasim for which 170 acres of land is earmarked and development work is being carried out. About 3,000 industries are being moved to Port Qasim, he said, adding that an uninterrupted electric supply will be ensured there for which 500 megawatt electricity will be produced through coal plant. British government will also help in producing another 600 megawatt with solid waste at Karachi Port, he added.
The federal minister said that IT database system is being installed and will be made functional within next month at all ports, adding, “This will help to track containers movement throughout and status of custom duty also be monitored.”
Responding to questions of journalists about letter of Sindh Government to port authorities in regard to possession of government land, Kamran Michael said that they have not taken any illegal possession of Sindh Government land and in most of cases they have possession of their own land. “Future of ports and shipping industry is very bright. We are trying our best to curb corruption in my ministry. We have identified more than 3000 ghost employees in Karachi Port Trust after which we have installed biometric attendance machine to ensure transparency. We should all work together for the promotion of economy, he added.
Chairman Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) Muhammad Siddique Memon said that shipping has most important role in logistics and now it’s growing. PNSC is now in business of oil and bulk carrier and now planning to add more tankers in its fleet. “We are a profit earning organisation now and have earned 1.9 million profits last year,” he added.
