New berths, terminals planned for all ports: Qamar

KARACHI: New berths and terminals have been planned at all the ports in order to enhance their capacity according to the country’s requirement by next year, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Naveed Qamar said.

He was speaking to the media on the visit of Port Qasim here on Saturday. He said, “performance of the existing ports can be enhanced through major initiatives and facilitate shipping companies along with them.” He said that the Gwadar port, still lacking major communication links, needs improvement and expansion in infrastructure as soon as possible.

“The seaports should be made to handle bulk quantity of food and energy cargo, so that they could participate in the growth of the economy,” he added.

In a briefing, Chairman Port Qasim Authority said, “during the last financial year 2007-08, PQA achieved a record cargo handling of 24.4 million tones, registering a growth of 13 percent over the previous year.” For capacity enhancement, ten private sector projects are being implemented as against 3 projects in last 24 years.

By completing these projects by 2010, PQA handling capacity will increase to 82 million tones, increase of 164 percent. “The number of berths will be increased from 10 to 20,” he added. staff report

Source: Daily Times