Government to pay massive subsidy on fertiliser

[LRE]

Government to pay massive subsidy on fertiliser
Web posted at: 12/26/2008 1:39:3
Source ::: IANS

KARACHI: The Pakistan government will be footing a huge bill of a billion rupees ($12.3m) to provide subsidy for the haulage of three million tons fertiliser from the Gwadar Port to hinterland.

For transporting fertiliser the contractors and stevedores will be required to move vehicles and labour force from Karachi or Lasbela to Gwadar, which is more of a fishing village.

Official sources disclosed that the government would be giving around Rs2,500 per tonne towards transport subsidy for bringing fertiliser from the Gwadar Port to Karachi and other parts of the country.

The government will also pay Rs40 per tonne to the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) towards port charges despite the fact that there had been no investment by the port operator ever since it took over operations early 2006.

With a population of around 70,000 people, Gwadar has yet to transform itself by developing connectivity through road and rail networks with the rest of the country.

According to ports and shipping experts it is not the government’s duty to make the port operational, when it had been handed over to the operator. They question about the business plan of the operator and say that not a single penny had been invested by the PSA so far.

Barring two 22-year old gantry cranes, which had been refurbished and are yet to be certified, there has been on other investment no, the experts said.

The first and the foremost duty of any port operator is to engage shipping lines, which could start their service from the port but in the case of Gwadar Port no such step had been taken, they added.


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