Expressing dissatisfaction over the social, economic, health, infrastructural and educational development in Gwadar, a parliamentary panel on Tuesday directed the government to provide modern facilities to the people on emergency basis and speed up the work on development projects.
These directions were given by the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs which met here under the chairpersonship of Senator Nuzhat Sadiq. The committee also endorsed the recommendations drafted by a subcommittee under the convenorship of Senator Kauda Babar to pinpoint the core issues faced by Gwadar area.
The Senate body adopted the report of sub-committee and directed the Ministry of Maritime Affairs to present report on the recommendations of the sub-committee report. Senator Kauda Babar said that the report was formulated in close collaboration with all the stakeholders and it mentioned all the problems of the fishermen and local community inhabiting in Gwadar, whereas the member of Balochistan Assembly Mir Jamal Kalmati was also taken onboard.
Senator Khuda Babar said that the government of Balochistan has declared Gwadar a metropolitan city in a bid to speed up development works in the city. The sub-committee report has recommended: to widen the scale of tax free zone from specific zone to the entire Gwadar city; to facilitate the investors like the ones in other Special Economic and Export processing zones and; to enable facilities at the Gwadar Airport being rendered at other big airports of the country.
The report also suggested that 300MW coal power plant should be established in Gwadar on priority basis. It further proposed that railroads and internet service are necessary for the development of Gwadar port whereas the issues pertaining to the provision of potable water and electricity needs to be resolved as there would be no investment and development without these facilities.
Responding to a question of Senator Samina Saeed, Dostain Jamaldini, chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), said that sewage water was recycled at port and polluted water was not thrown into the sea. He added that all steps are being taken to protect the environment.
Senator Shamim Afridi said that Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) has banned investment in the city which is hampering development and investments to embark on the port city which should be elevated in the earliest. Senator Rana Mahmoodul Hassan opined that floating cage fish farming has been proved fruitful source of fishing whereas Gwadar has the ideal terrain for the concept as it is carried out in the sea.
He said the government should collaborate with the Chinese authorities to devise plan for providing finances to local fishermen families as it would provide million of rupees per annum income. There are unexplored resources in Gwadar which need to be exploited for the good of the local community as well as the country.