The Gwadar port project will be completed six months ahead of schedule. This was stated by Federal Minister for Communication, Senator Ahmed Ali, while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday. He said the government and the Chinese company were trying their best to complete the project at the earliest. He said the port activity had already started and four ships had left after off-loading 10,000 tones of material at Gawadar, wihch showed the channel had become deep enough for movement of ships and now only a jetty was required which was being constructed speedily. He added that the roads in the port zone would be completed within a short time and the government was also taking up a de-salination project there. "Within two years, Baluchistan would be fully linked with the Northern areas of the country", the minister said.

President Pervez Musharraf, he said, was keen to see that a truck leaving the Karachi port Trust reached Kohat within 24 hours. He said the truck movement on roads was the best indicator of economic activity in a country. He said the KPT had been asked to construct a bridge to the Northern Bypass and the work on it would start soon. To a question, the minister said the shipping sector was mainly faced with the cargo/freight problem as a ship under the Pakistani flag was barred from touching Indian ports and no businessman would bring a ship under the Pakistani flag unless he got load. The situation, he said, would change only when relations between Pakistan and India improved. "From day first, when the new era of improved relations with India will start, the economic activity will gear up and private companies will bring their new ships under the Pakistani flag," he said. The communication minister said there was big potential in the oil sector and the government had singed many contracts with local refineries. He informed that the PNSC had a fleet of 13 ships which had failed to earn that much as a single oil tanker did. " We bring oil by a contract tanker which gives us a good amount of profit to meet the expenses." The minister appreciated the efforts by the PNSC chairman to turn the organization into a viable and profitable enterprenuer. About the purchase of oil tankers by PNSC, he said, the process was near completion as quotations had been received and bargaining with the leading foreign companies was continuing. He said the PNSC would have acquired tankers earlier, but after the Iraq war the matter was delayed because of reluctance on part of the companies, and now negotiations had been re-started with foreign companies of good repute for acquisition of tankers and "hopefully we will have good news within three months".

Replying to a question, the minister noted that the KPT needed some correction specially on the financial side as it had failed to attract business. "Its berths remain unoccupied due to high cess which can be reduced only with a cut in overheads. He specially referred to the KPT's labour cost against their insignificant contribution as, he observed, much of the operation was mechanized/automatic. He said rupees one billion were spent on the KPT labour annually, and another billion on the Dock Labour Board. He said that a KPT driver drew Rs25,000 as monthly salary, while a sweeper's salary was Rs17,000. The minister said that a golden handshake scheme for KPT employees was in the offing to rid the port from the unjustified burden of operational expenses. "The golden handshake scheme is on my table. It will be announced soon after a careful study and revision for the maximum possible benefits of the employees. I hope that each person will get at least 800,000 rupees," he said. The federal minister announced that no person would be given extension after completing 60 years of service as the government wanted them to be replaced

Plz pray,
Sardarzada

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God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife....