Senate panel concerned over delay in new Gawadar Shipyard project

Asks government of Balochistan to expedite coordination with the defence production ministry

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Defence Production on Wednesday showed concern on an uncalled-for delay in the processing of new Gawadar Shipyard and asked the government of Balochistan to expedite coordination with the defence production ministry.

A meeting of the committee, chaired by Senator Lt-Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum, heard from Minister for Defence Production Minister Zubaida Jalal that Balochistan government has agreed to handover 600 acre land for construction of Gawadar Shipyard in Kappar area of the province.

The meeting was attended by Senator Pervaiz Rashid,Syed Mushahid Hussain Syed, Nauman Wazir Khattak,Nuzhat Sadiq,Muhammad Akram, Taj Muhammad Afridi, Anwar Lal Din and Gul Bashra. In the meeting, Jalal gave a briefing on her ministry’s restructuring plans.

“Young educated persons were being recruited in sales department of the ministry to make it self-sufficient.,” the minister told the meeting. Qayyum said restructuring of the defence production setups might be undertaken but the ministry must have separate budget allocation and should gradually become self-sustaining.

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“Domestic production should be encouraged. Private sector should also be encouraged. There should be provided dedicated budget of the ministry,” Senator Qayyum said. “Our defence production establishments have done wonderful innovative work, they need to optimise their utilisation by running their setups on sound commercial lines.”

The committee lauded the efforts of Defence Production establishments for their successes in indigenisation, up-gradation and modernisation of military hardware to keep pace with the ever-increasing international developments and changing requirements of the modern battle field.

“Efforts made by the Armament Research and Development Establishment with modest financial allocation was praiseworthy,” the committee chairman said. He added well-funded and suitably staffed by professional scholars and technocrats, research and development set-ups play a pivotal role in the modernisation of any civil or military institution involved in creative pursuits.