May 9, 2003	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

QUETTA, May 8: Saindak copper project will begin production from next month and initially it will produce 12,500 tonnes of raw copper on a daily basis.

The president of the MRDL, the Chinese company working at the project, told Balochistan Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, who visited Saindak copper project on Wednesday.

The Chinese company, he briefed the governor, had invested $25 million for the re-commissioning the Saindak project, adding that the beginning of the project would benefit the area economically.

The Balochistan governor was also informed that modern machinery had been installed at the site of this mega project, including a 50-megawatt powerplant to meet the energy requirements of the area.

Pakistan Railways, he said, had also laid down a 33-kilometre-long railway track between Taftan and Saindak.

The president of the Chinese company said that the MRDL was providing jobs to the local people besides providing them with basic facilities, including healthcare and clean drinking water.

He informed the Balochistan governor that out of a total 580 jobs available at the project, 200 vacancies had been filled with the local people while 185 people from other areas of Balochistan had been accommodated.

The Balochistan Governor Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, while speaking on the occasion, said that the local people should be accommodated in unskilled jobs and training should also be provided to them to enable them to perform technical jobs in the future.

Expressing gratitude to the Chinese government for extending financial and technical assistance for re-starting the Saindak copper project, he said that the provincial government would extend its fullest cooperation for the implementation of the project.

The Governor, who visited different sections of the project, was also accompanied by the district Nazim, Chagai, Mir Arif Jan Mohammad Hasni and other related officials on the occasion.