GWADAR: A desalination plant installed at the Gwadar port by China Oversees Port Holding Co­m­p­­a­ny was inaugurated on Monday by federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo. The plant will supply drinking water to Gwadar.

The newly-installed desalination plant with the capacity of producing 254,000 gallons of clean drinking water had been completed by the Chinese firm in record time.

Senator Bizenjo, who is also president of the National Party, said that 2018 would prove to be a good beginning for the people of Gwadar as they would witness massive development in Balochistan under the China-Pakistan Econo­mic Corridor (CPEC).

He said the functioning of the desalination plant would red­uce to some extent the shortage of drinking water in the city.

People of Gwadar had been facing water shortage for the last many months and now they would get clean drinking water, he said.

“The desalination plant is a true reflection of CPEC and Pakistan-China friendship and a gift for the people,” Mr Bizenjo said, adding that it was the result of the visionary thinking of the Gwadar Port Authority and China Overseas Port Holding Company chairmen.

He expressed the hope that the water crisis in Gwadar would be resolved this year. He said that water supply from the Gwadar port would be cheaper than supply from the Mirani dam in Turbat. The minister later took a round of the plant where Chinese officials briefed him on the capacity of the plant.

Earlier, Mr Bizenjo was received at the Gwadar airport by port and local administration officials.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2018