Lack of infrastructure impeding Gwadar Port’s functioning

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Tariq Butt
ISLAMABAD: Lack of complete road connectivity at certain points, absence of will on the part of some federal authorities and strong opposition from the “Karachi lobby” are principal stumbling blocks in the way of making the Gwadar port operational, official sources revealed on Friday.

“There has not been much movement forward on making flawless road link between Gwadar and Ratodero in Sindh and completing its connectivity with some parts of Balochistan,” a senior official told The News.

He admitted that Karachi Port and Port Qasim were too overburdened to take the entire load. The result, he said, was that not only some government departments but also private importers and exporters had to pay a sizeable demurrage every year. For example, the source added, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) had to shell out $1.8 million in demurrage last year. Another official said the incumbent Balochistan chief minister had urged the federal government to do away with the obstacles to operationalisation of the Gwadar port so that the province could get its benefits.

The official said the present road infrastructure starting from Gwadar port was not in a position to bear the brunt of heavy trucks laden with goods. He observed if trucks did not carry goods up to their capacity, it would not be a viable proposition for them, considering the expenses incurred on transportation.

But Port and Shipping official told the correspondent that ‘Karachi lobby’ within the bureaucracy and the business community was poised to confine imports and exports through Karachi, arguing it was not feasible for businessmen to foot the hefty bill of transportation from Gwadar.

Last week, the government announced it would start huge exports and imports of commodities like wheat, fertilisers and cement through port. But informed officials did not see the announcement being translated into reality in the near future.

One source said there was no reluctance on the part of Port of Singapore Authority International (PSAI), selected as the operator of the Gwadar port, to undertake the job. “There is no doubt that PSAI is ready to operate, but the government needs to do what it is required to do so that the Singaporean company starts its work.”

The PSAI is to invest $4 billion in phase two and three to complete new berths while the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) executed the first phase. The PSAI is a global leader in the port and terminus business and operates 20 port projects in 11 countries, including Singapore, Belgium, Brunei, China, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Korea and Thailand.

Kyrgyzstan Ambassador to Pakistan Nurlar Aitmurzaev, in a recent meeting with Ports & Shipping Minister Nabeel Gabool, said that his country was interested in availing the Gwadar port facility as well as having a terminal there. The Gwadar port is the closest to Central Asian Republics (CARs).

Officials conceded Pakistan had suffered losses of billions of dollars due to the delay in making the Gwadar port operational. The project faced an inordinate delay for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons was the late execution of some projects by Pakistani contractors.

The Gwadar port is the third deep seaport in Pakistan after Karachi and Port Qasim. As compared to the Karachi Port and Port Qasim, which operate on a royalty basis, the selection of PSAI for Gwadar is on the basis of a gross revenue-sharing formula.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=150751