Islamabad:
The senatorial committee on maritime affairs examined Tuesday critical issues related to the management of maritime assets, in particular the controversial sale of 500 acres of land in Port Qasim. The committee, chaired by Senator Faisal Vawda, then ordered the cancellation of the sale.
Vawda then expressed her gratitude for the rapid measures taken by the committee, declaring: “If we had not been intervened and exposed corruption, the country would have lost 60 billion rupees. Our collective action assured that the fraudulent sale was canceled within 72 hours of our recommendations. »»
According to a press release, the committee plunged into the sale of 500 acres of land in Port Qasim, which was sold for an advance of 2%, which represents a fraction of its real value, estimated at 60 billion rupees.
The senator questioned the legitimacy of the transaction, declaring: “Only 2% were taken after having sold land worth 60 billion rupees. If the transaction was legitimate, why was it reversed within 72 hours? »»
The land was initially allocated to industrial use in 2006, and the Committee heard that an outside regulations had been prosecuted in this case.
However, Vawda raised doubts, wondering why the land was sold for only 10% of its real value and why the board of directors did not act earlier. “Who authorized the board of directors of Port Qasim to sell land worth 60 billion rupees for only 5 billion rupees? It goes beyond their scope and their authority, “he noted.
In his remarks, the senator described three options to deal with such cases of mismanagement and corruption, “to go, admit corruption or fight against him”. He stressed the importance of holding responsible for financial loss responsible for the country.
Senator Dash Kumar has raised concerns about the absence of a permanent president in the ports of Karachi and Gwadar, stressing the need for stable leadership in the maritime sector.
Vawda agreed to declare that if the actor’s presidency should continue, the permanent president was to be deleted. “The importance of appropriate leadership cannot be overestimated.”
The Committee also questioned the role of the board of directors of Port Qasim in the sale of controversial land. Port Qasim officials said the case had been treated in an appropriate manner and that the council had done nothing illegal.
However, Senator Vawda challenged this assertion, saying: “Port Qasim not only sold the land with maliciousness, but also changed the location of the Balkhnum Razi project.”
He stressed that the land was sold at an extraordinarily low price, noting that a foreign company, “which was not really foreign but local and had dubious experience”, was involved in the agreement.
The Committee was also informed of the current state of the land of Port Qasim. Port Qasim has around 14,000 acres of land, with 9,574 acres rented. In addition, the authority bought 1,000 acres in land and awaits 1,250 acres to the Sindh government.
The committee noted the importance of prioritizing exports to ports, which remains a key problem for the Pakistan maritime sector. VAWDA called for the inclusion of technocrats and businessmen from the private sector in the port management board to ensure efficiency and transparency.
In accordance with Reunion’s conclusions, the senator proposed several recommendations for immediate action. These included payments awaiting freezing in land acquisition agreements at Port Qasim, KPT, Gwadar Port and the PNSC until additional surveys were completed.
The committee also recommended an in -depth examination of the Shawn refining project, with the cancellation potential if criminal negligence is found.
The Committee carried out instructions according to which all the rental agreements which were issued from 2018 to 2024 to all companies are frozen. The Committee also ordered that the details of all the courts of the court made during the governments of the PTI, the PDM and the PML-N are provided to the Committee. All the rental agreements whose payments have not been made are canceled.
The next meeting will discuss more appointments in major maritime departments and will follow up on unresolved questions related to the sale of QASIM port land and other maritime affairs.
The meeting was followed by the Senators Daneh Kumar, Naseema Ehsan, Rubina Qaim Khani, Husna Bano, Nadeem Bhutto and other senior officials, including the presidents of the relevant services.
With application entry
