Pakistan Navy has illegally occupied 584 acres land of Gwadar Port and 1,250 acres land of the Port Qasim, hampering further development and extension of both the ports and for promotion of export through these ports. This was stated by Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Khan Ghauri, who sought the help of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping, which met in Parliament House here Tuesday with Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan in the chair.
During the briefing, the committee took serious notice and strongly recommended that the Pakistan Navy immediately hand over the possession of the land to the Gwadar port and Port Qasim in order to extend the ports to their requirements and to make it profitable and uplift to the international standard. The committee also discussed the split of oil from Tasman Spirit ship in Pakistani water near Karachi in detail and emphasised the report, made by the Ministry of Environment, be obtained to enable the committee to reach at final decision.
The committee also expressed deep concern on encroachment of the land of Karachi Port Trust and decided that the Inspector General of Police, Sindh, will also be invited in the next meeting to discuss the encroachment issue and the government of Sindh may also cooperate to settle the issue amicably. The committee was briefed on the installation of an expensive Fountain at Karachi seashore and other affairs of the Ministry of Ports and Shipping and its attached departments in detail.
Babar Ghauri, participating in the meeting, said that the Fountain at the Karachi seashore was a new addition in the beautification of Karachi and icon of Pakistan. It would become a profitable fountain in the near future, he added. Babar Ghauri informed the committee that they were constructing a civic centre at Gwadar Port of international standard in order to facilitate the public and to attract more foreign investors to get all the facilities at one place. He further said that they were also going to install treatment plant for the Karachi so that the sewerage directly falls into the sea.-PR