All hurdles in the way of Gwadar should be immediately removed to make the port a regional hub. This stance was taken by the Senate Standing Committee, which met on Monday with Mrs Ghulshan Saeed in the Chair.
The committee expressed concern over the delay which was holding the operation of Gwadar port. It called for full road and rail facilities to connect the port with rest of the country, as well as provide access to Central Asian Republic States and China etc.
In the view of Members, developed road and railway links would help generate business and improve socio- economic life of the people in Pakistan as well as neighbouring countries. Though the Gwadar Port project was assigned to the Port of Singapore Authority through an agreement. The company had been rather tardy in carrying out developments.
A three-member Sub-committee consisting of Senators Dr Abdul Malik, Syed Javed Ali Shah and Dr Mohammad Ismail Buledi was constituted to look in to delay holding up the progress. The committee also noticed that electricity had not been provided and therefore, charged the Ports and Shipping Ministry to look into these issues. It also directed senior officials of the National Highway Authority, Railways and electricity to appear in its next meeting of the Committee to explain delay in providing road network, Railway link and power supply to the Port.
In this regard the committee also opposed the proposal to recruit more personnel in the Port because in its view it would be a burden on the national exchequer. Chairman Gwadar Port Authority, Rear Admiral M Ehsan Saeed, gave a briefing to the committee in which he said port infrastructure has been completed and work on housing complex was also in progress.
Several other projects for eg Gwadar Port civic centre, east bay express way, land acquisitions for the free zone and the Mullaband area were under consideration Ms Saadia Abbasi, Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf (Retd), Ahmed Ali, Syed Javed Ali Shah, Dr Muhammad Ismail Buledi, Dr Abdul Malik and Fahim Ansari, Minister for Ports and Shipping, were present in the meeting.