ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to provide financial assistance to the deserving fishermen of Gwadar for the purchase of boat engines only through crossed cheques.

The decision has been taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, in its meeting held on December 21, 2022.

Official sources told Business Recorder that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs (MoMA) informed that subsequent to the visit of the prime minister to Gwadar on June 3, 2022 and listening to the plight of poor fishermen, the following was directed:

“Two thousand deserving fishermen shall be provided engines for fishing boats free of cost. The selection of beneficiaries shall be undertaken through a transparent balloting process, based on well-defined criteria.”

The forum was further informed that the DDWP of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, in its meeting held on June 5, 2022 had approved the project titled, “Provision of 2,000 engines to poor fishermen of Gwadar” at a total cost of Rs 500.00 million with an implementation period of one year.

A meeting of “The Federal Steering Committee on Gwadar Initiatives” was also held in the Prime Minister’s Office on July 6, 2022.

A committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Maritime Affairs had reviewed and finalised the criteria for the distribution of boat engines among fishermen.

As per PC-1, Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) floated the first public tender notice on July 6, 2022, second on August 17, 2022 and third on October 13, 2022 in national newspapers.

However, no appropriate response was received, fulfilling the requisite criteria and requirements. As a result, all tenders were scrapped. The ministry added that progress review meeting of Gwadar projects was held on November 23, 2022 under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and it directed; (i) due to lukewarm response of OEMs/ bidders and the non-availability of engines on time as reported by chairman GPA during review, option of cash transfers to deserving fishermen for the purchase of boat engines to be looked into; and (ii) sponsors to complete formalities as per procedure en-vogue on priority.

In view of the decisions of the Progress Review Committee on Gwadar Projects, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs submitted following proposals to the ECC for its consideration; (i) PC-l of the project may be allowed to be withdrawn and Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (MoPD&SI) may surrender the amount of Rs 500 million already allocated for the project; (ii) an additional amount of Rs 322.750 million may also be provided by the MoPD&SI from savings of any other projects of PSDP; and (iii) Hence, the total amount of Rs 822.750 million may be granted as Technical Supplementary Grant as a grant-in-aid, enabling GPA to disburse the same to all 3,291 fishermen registered with Balochistan Fisheries Department @ PKR 250,000 per head for the purchase of boat engines.

The ECC discussed case threadbare. During the ensuing discussion, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Finance suggested that instead of cash payment, proposed financial assistance should be provided to the deserving fishermen of Gwadar, through only crossed cheques. The forum agreed to the proposal.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022