KARACHI: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Monday took serious notice of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) for not holding an external audit of its accounts for the last five years.

Terming it ‘criminal negligence’ on part of the KPT, a sub-committee was set up for holding an inquiry into the matter and submitting its report within a month.

During a visit to the KPT head office, the 21-member standing committee headed by Ghulam Mustafa Shah also gave budgetary approvals for a number of projects related to ports and shipping.

In his defence, KPT Chairman Shafqat Jawed said that he had been in the office for less than two years and needed some time to clear up things.

The retired vice admiral informed the committee that an internal audit was held regularly while the federal government too carried out an annual audit.

He further said that KPT had invited external auditors and also selected one but the audit company did not show up and new invitations had to be advertised.

Secretary Ministry Ports and Shipping Parvez Khalid said that “setting up a sub-committee is a harsh move” and KPT should be given more time for appointment of an external auditor.

Unsatisfied by the replies of KPT officials, the standing committee members demanded that the ports and shipping minister should be present in such meetings in the future.

The committee members were unhappy over the handling of land grabbing and illegal allotment of port land by the KPT.

They said that no progress report had been submitted by KPT over the decisions taken in the previous meetings.

They demanded that progress report of each meeting must be submitted to the standing committee for keeping members updated.

Matters related to compensation and payment to landowners at Gwadar Port also came up for discussion. The committee was also informed that though the matter directly related to the Balochistan government, the federal government should also ensure that people were duly compensated.

Several projects related to ports and shipping sector were also approved by the committee.

The federal government’s coal conveyer system for Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT) to railway network with an estimated cost of Rs15.875 billion at Port Qasim was approved.

The committee gave approval for reconstruction of officers and staff colony and sports complex of Pakistan Marine Academy (PMA). Approval was also given for purchase of simulators by the PMA.

Gwadar Port projects worth billions of rupees to be executed during next 20 years, including capital dredging at the port and construction of breakwaters, were approved by the committee.

The committee took serious note of illegal nets which swept juvenile fish and led to rapid destruction of marine resources.

It was decided that a special meeting having federal and provincial government would be soon convened in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2016