Chief Secretary Dr Akhtar Nazeer is being briefed by officials about the under construction building of digital library in Khuzdar. PHOTO: EXPRESS
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Secretary Dr Akhtar Nazeer has said that the provincial government should start work on the Lasbela Industrial Estates Development Authority (LIEDA) Act for the development of industry and generation of revenue in the province.
He said that model projects would be started with the help of the private sector for the development of industry in the province, adding that this would help in the province’s economic development as well as providing job opportunities to the people of Balochistan.
He was presiding over a meeting at the LIEDA conference hall. Power Secretary Pasand Khan Buledi, Kalat Division Commissioner Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Kakar, Lasbela Deputy Commissioner Shabbir Ahmed Mengal and the industries secretary were also present in the meeting.
The Balochistan chief secretary further said that the Lasbela Industrial Estates Development Authority should play its role in the Chinese firm's desalination plant project. He also directed LIEDA officers to prepare a plan for the development of an industrial zone and pledged the Balochistan government’s full cooperation with the Authority.
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During the meeting, LIEDA Managing Director Aslam Tareen and Industries Secretary Noor Muhammad Jogezai briefed the chief secretary on the formation of the Authority as well as its role in the development of the industrial zone.
In the briefing, they termed Lasbela the economic hub of Balochistan and the gateway to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, adding that there was substantial industrial activity in Gadani, Vinder and Lasbela which played a vital role in revenue generation for the province.
The officials also stated that, due to the efforts of the Balochistan government, the federal finance minister had approved Hub as a special economic zone and that the Balochistan government's finance department had allocated 100 million rupees for the development of infrastructure including the construction and repair of roads.
The LIEDA managing director and the industries secretary further disclosed that the Authority wanted to hire a consultant by the first of April within two weeks of which tenders would be issued. They added that the business community would also be invited to participate in the project.
The officials also told the chief secretary that the mining sector was playing a key role in the development of industry in the province, a sector significant enough to supply as much as 200,000 tons of marble daily to markets in Karachi. They also revealed that the provincial government had established the Gadani Marble City to promote mining in the province and that the provision of basic facilities to it had been approved in the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Chief Secretary Dr Akhtar Nazeer directed LIEDA to explore the feasibility of installing a water and sewerage treatment plant, stating that grey water was being used for industrial use in the rest of the world rather than clean drinking water.
Dr Nazeer also directed that the registration of industrial labourers in Hub be carried out with the help of the Lasbela Chamber of Commerce.
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