PQA chief swamped with complaints

Businessmen unhappy with administrative and security issues.

KARACHI: The Port Qasim Authority (PQA) has taken steps to improve performance of the port, especially security issues, said PQA Chairman Vice Admiral (retd) Muhammad Shafi when he came under a barrage of complaints from businessmen during a visit to the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) head office here on Wednesday.

Shafi made a small speech at the meeting and to his utter surprise businessmen started throwing questions immediately after that with complaints ranging from administrative to security issues in PQA.

In his defence, Shafi said “performance of the port has improved over the past few years, but we know that we are not perfect and there is still room for improvement. That is why we are trying to learn and improve our performance.”

To pacify businessmen, FPCCI President Senator Ghulam Ali also intervened a couple of times and asked them to restrict their questions and avoid harsh comments.

Shafi said renovation work on a 12.4km road that linked Port Qasim to the National Highway would start from January, which would help improve infrastructure in the port area.

The industrial zone of Port Qasim is home to leading national and multinational industries but security problems have dogged the authorities for the past few years. Spread over an area of around 50,000 acres, the industrial zone is a couple of kilometres from Karachi on the National Highway.

Responding to the queries, PQA representatives said though they had invested in improving security of the area, it was not their sole responsibility. They argued that actually the onus lies on the state and the police to provide security for investors and businessmen.

The businessmen said PQA should resolve the issues of rent and lease faced by the investors who had acquired land in the industrial area.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2011.