ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: The Senate was informed on Wednesday that Gwadar Port would be operational by Dec 30, 2006. During the question hour, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamil Ali Agha said that 90 per cent work on the first phase of the port had been completed.

He said although problems were being faced in construction of roads, the project would be handed over to operators by Dec 30.

Mr Agha said the first phase would have cost Rs14.9 billion while the second phase would cost Rs525 million.

He pointed out that initially a 12-metre-long channel had been dug which turned out insufficient, adding that its length would now be increased to 15 or 16 metres. He said 70 per cent work had been completed.

In the second phase, he said, 21 berths would be built but construction had not started yet. He said the work had been delayed as funds provided by China in the first phase was only for the construction of small ports and light berths leading Pakistan to seek more Chinese assistance.

Rejecting opposition’s allegations that funds allocated for Gwadar Port were being spent on Karachi Port, he said inadequacy of roads and civil work were the main reasons causing problems in the construction work of the new port.

The minister said that transportation facilities in sea were not available in the country as the water level did not keep the same the whole year.

UNEMPLOYMENT: Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the government was taking all out efforts to reduce unemployment and put the number of jobless people in the country at 3.23 million.

State Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Raza Hayat Haraj said the data of the unemployed had been prepared with the help of information obtained by the National Data-base Registration Authority.

He said a programme had been prepared to train 2 million people and provide small loans to graduate and post-graduate youths. He said Pakistani manpower was being sent to several countries, including Korea and Libya.

Opposition senators challenged the government figures on unemployment.

UNIVERSITIES: Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi said 21 universities had been established in the past five years. He said provinces were free to set up universities with the approval of the Higher Education Commission.

He informed the house that a university would be set up in Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He said funds had been reserved but the site had yet to be selected for the purpose.

In reply to a question, he said the Higher Education Commission had sponsored 2,655 people for MS/PhD studies in local and foreign institutions over the past five years.—Online