The chairman KPT also informed the committee members that there is no record of corruption cases in the department, to which Senator Kulsoom Parveen denied his claim and mentioned a few cases of Nato containers. The chairman committee, however, proposed to discuss the issue in detail in the next meeting of the committee while directing to call an exclusive meeting with relevant officials of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other stakeholders regarding the corruption cases.
The committee chairman inquired if any cases are pending with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in response to which the committee was apprised that currently the NAB is conducting inquiry regarding induction cases of 2012 as well as a terminal was made functional in the year 1998 on which the NAB had reservations. The chair directed to provide a briefing regarding all the cases being pursued by the NAB in the next meeting.
Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Bizenjo informed the committee members that the total untreated waste water by industrial and other means is 480 million gallon per day, which is falling into the ocean. "This pollution is affecting the people of Karachi with increasing number of diseases," he said, adding that provincial and federal governments need to work in collaboration in order to resolve this problem.
Senator Taj Haider said that the treatment plants, TP-1 and TP-3, are operational with the existing capacity of 390 million gallons water treatment per day and it is provided to the Karachi residents. He said that the harbour can only be cleaned if the waste is not allowed to go into the ocean.
The minister informed the committee members that the modern and sensitive scanners are to be installed at the ports which shall be able to identify items within the containers. "This efficient scanning process would lead to less time consumption in the clearing of ships and containers on the port; however, the authority to declare a container clear would still lie with the customs department," he said.
Regarding the measures adopted for provision of transportation through railway to carry the load from the ports, the chairman KPT apprised the committee that in the existing railway track, most of the area is maintained by the trust and that the available area is insufficient. He said that the issue is under discussion with the Ministry of Railways and a dedicated track is also proposed in order to avoid congestion.
The minister also apprised the committee that project of building the Karachi Harbour Crossing Bridge plan is under consideration with the Asian Development Bank. Providing the background, he said the time span for the project would be five to six years.
After the completion it would connect the northern bypass to Karachi port, he said, adding that Ministry of Finance is also taken on board for the project and it would be an exemplary project of public private partnership. The committee members were informed that as proposed by Senator Taj Haider, name of deep water port has been changed to 'Tipu Sultan Channel Dredging Works'. Regarding the awarding of contract of the dredging at Karachi Ports with particular reference to the contract awarded and procedure adopted, Chief Hydrographer apprised the committee that PPRA rules have been followed in true letter and spirit in bidding and contract awarding process. The contract was awarded to a Dutch company. The minister added that this is the most modern deep water port in the whole world. It is a robotic operating port with the number of staff as low as 400 officials, he said, adding that such models exist in Dubai and other countries.
The depth of channel has been increased from 13 meters to 16 meters thus it will be able to handle bigger shipments, the chairman KPT said, adding that the dredging contract has been concluded as the Dutch company has done the job within three months instead of prescribed four months.