KARACHI: The Balochistan government will rehabilitate the Pasni Fish Harbour at a cost of Rs1.454 billion, including Rs800 million of Japanese aid.
According to a working paper of the Planning Commission, siltation and deposition of garbage in the harbour and jetties are common phenomenon for which regular maintenance dredging is required to remove silt and garbage periodically from these harbours and jetties. Otherwise channels and berths become choked permanently, and the harbour becomes non-functional.
Only through regular maintenance dredging, harbour and jetties can be kept navigable round the year with clean and silt-free channels and basin yards. At present dredging operations are carried out through lease dredger from GDA, KPT, and the costly venture depends upon availability of suitable dredger.
Provision of marine infrastructure constitutes the base for progress for all the other components of any fishery in the world. This project shall cater to the berthing and developmental needs of over 3,500 fishing vessels of the Gwadar coastal district area.
The project consists of four components: (i) procurement of a new dredger; (ii) repair and extension of existing breakwater (465m); (iii) maintenance dredging (0.51 million cubic meters) till procurement of a new dredger; and (iv) consultancy and survey services.
Through implementation of the project, (a) fisheries related infrastructure will be rehabilitated and augmented, (b) fishing vessels will be able to operate and navigate through harbour round the year, (c) fisheries related trades will resume functioning and (d) income to the public and revenues to the PFHA will resume.
Although funding is to be provided by the Balochistan government with counterpart funds deposited under the Japanese aid, yet the project was presented at the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) since funding through Japan was more than 25 percent of the total cost of the project.
As per the Planning Commission’s Manual for Development Projects, the projects with a foreign exchange component exceeding 25 percent of the total project cost have to be processed through the CDWP/ECNEC irrespective of the source of funding, provincial or otherwise.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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