ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping presented its performance report spreading over the last three years before the members of the committee.
A well-placed source in the Ministry of Ports and Shipping told Customs Today that the committee had sought a detailed report regarding the implementation on its recommendations by the ministry and attached departments.
Moreover, the committee had also asked the quarters concerned to prepare a briefing on the committee’s performance and working over the last three years.
As per rules, every standing committee is bound to compile a report on its performance after the conclusion of the tenure of members.
Several members of the committee are about to retire over the completion of their six-year tenure this month and new members will be elected to the Senate on March 5.
When contacted, Committee Chairman Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hassani confirmed issuing directives to the committee secretariat to compile a three-year record regarding performance of the committee under his chairmanship.
When asked whether he was satisfied with the performance of the committee and implementation status by the ministry and attached departments, Hassani said that the committee had worked hard on issues that hindered the performance of the ministry, and extended full support to the ministry in solving the problems it faced.
“The ministry faced numerous problems like encroachment of land at Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim as well as Gwadar Port; however, as a result of extensive discussion of the committee and interaction with the officials and authorities concerned, the committee remained successful in solving a majority of problems of grave nature,” he commented.
He observed that for the sake of extending support to the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, the committee held numerous meetings on Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim as well as Gwadar Port, and added that this exercise proved helpful in solving the problems confronted by the ministry.
“The Ministry of Ports and Shipping and its attached departments had been confronting several difficulties and challenges, especially under-performance of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) and others; however, on the proposals and recommendations of the committee, the administration and management of the said organisations came forward with robust programmes to accelerate revenue,” he said.
