QUETTA The standing committees of Senate and National Assembly on shipping and ports have suggested to the government to link the Gwadar port with main highways and rail and road networks.
A joint meeting of the committees held in Gwadar on Friday and Saturday reviewed various suggestions for developing the Gwadar port and making it fully functional. Members of the committees observed that despite completion of the first phase, the port had not been connected with national road and rail networks, saying it was the main hurdle in making the port fully functional.
They observed that skilled labour was not available in Gwadar because there was no facility in the area for technical training.
They said that local people should be given priority in jobs and youths of Gwadar and Makran division should be given scholarship for training in technical institutions of Punjab and Sindh.
They also recommended completion of Gwadar international airport on a war footing and said the port city should get uninterrupted 24-hour power supply.
The meeting observed that workers in the Gwadar port were getting less as salary than workers of Karachi and Bin Qasim ports. The members urged the government to bring their salary structure and facilities at part with those working in other ports.
It was decided that members of both the committees would meet the prime minister soon to inform him about the situation in Gwadar and present their recommendations.
The chairman of the National Assembly's Committee, Rana Mehmoodul Hasan, said that all possible steps would be taken to make Gwadar port fully functional.
