Port Qasim to have ferry service soon

Alternate route to facilitate Bin Qasim Industrialists to be establishes.

KARACHI: Port Qasim Authority (PQA) Chairman Vice Admiral Muhammad Shafi has said PQA will soon start a ferry service between Karachi and Port Qasim to provide an alternative route to the industrialists of Bin Qasim.

“We want to facilitate Bin Qasim industrialists and provide complete security through a safe and secure alternate route,” he said at a reception hosted by the Patron-in-Chief of Bin Qasim Association of Trade and Industry (BQATI), Mian Muhammad Ahmed, here on Monday.

He said the law and order situation in the area is being monitored and necessary steps will be taken. He suggested that the industrialists can also repair roads in their areas on self-help basis, following which the roads would be named after them. The railway system is also being restored for the labourers of the area, he added.

Shafi assured the industrialists of BQATI that the problems faced by them will be taken up immediately on priority basis.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Ahmed said that owing to the deteriorating law and order situation at the National Highway, an alternative route through sea is a feasible idea. The National Highway is the only road that links the Port Qasim and Karachi, and in emergencies, industrialists and labourers face difficulties in reaching Karachi.

“Ferry service is a wonderful idea, which is not only cost-effective but it also promotes tourism along our coastal belt,” he said.

The Port Qasim can further extend the ferry service to Karachi islands, which will help develop the tourism industry and create employment opportunities, he said, adding that a separate jetty can be constructed as the Port Qasim has enormous space for the purpose.

This ferry service is easy to start as the government just needs to float tenders while private parties will take up the remaining work. However, if the government goes for another alternative road link, it will cost billions of rupees.

He further said that high-speed boats will only take 30 minutes to reach Karachi from the Port Qasim whereas the road link takes over an hour. He cited the example of Thailand and the Philippines, saying ferry services are a source of income for governments that operate between islands, “something that we can emulate at our coastal belt.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2011.