KARACHI: Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Senator Mir
Hasil Khan Bizenjo said on Monday the Gwadar port will become
commercially operational within one month as ships will start calling on
the port in January.
Addressing business leaders at the
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the
minister said the long-delayed elevated expressway, to be built by the
Karachi Port Trust (KPT), will be completed within three years. Tenders
for the project are being issued this week, he added.
The
minister stated that the Gwadar port and the Chabahar port of Iran will
supplement each other. The latter will always be in need of support
from the former, he noted.
He said heavy vehicles moving
in and out of the Karachi port will use the elevated expressway, leaving
the road at the zero level for city traffic.
The minister said the expressway will start at
Keamari. It will provide connectivity to the Pakistan Deep Water
Container Terminal (PDWCT) along with east and west wharves. Through
M.A. Jinnah Road and Jinnah Bridge, the elevated expressway will connect
with Northern Bypass, he said.
The minister urged the business community to play its role in making the Gwadar port operational.
Commercial traffic to begin next month
He said the port and industrial area have a lot of capacity.
“They offer many opportunities, but you have to get there early as
others may take advantage by moving in first,” he noted.
The
minister reminded the business community that the Gwadar Development
Authority chairman has assured businessmen of all sorts of facilities.
“If you still do not take interest in the port then no complaints should
come from your side in the future.”
The minister said
that if the Karachi port’s charges are high, the issue should have been
put up before his ministry, especially because the business community
has its representatives on the KPT’s board.
The minister
stated that Pakistan National Shipping Corporation will not start a
ferry service as it is up to the private sector to carry out such
commercial ventures.
Senator Bizenjo said the ferry
policy of the federal government is tilted towards the private sector.
Therefore, the private sector should take the initiative as the number
of pilgrims to Iran and Iraq is around 500,000 per annum.
Similarly,
there could be a ferry service from Karachi to Port Qasim and Gwadar,
he said. “Why not a ferry service for people who want to have their
dinner in the middle of the sea?”
He also assured the
business community that the government will give it free-of-cost space
to run the ferry service, recreational spots and other ventures that are
of commercial nature.
He said there is a long, beautiful
coastline from Karachi to Gwadar along the coastal highway where
recreational resorts can be developed. Only one such resort of small
capacity has been developed so far by a doctor of the area, he said. “We
can only give you permission for running such businesses,” he said.
