QUETTA: Balochistan’s Senior Minister for Planning and Development Zahoor Buledi has said the provincial government is introducing a ship-breaking law and will request the federal government to declare the Gadani ship-breaking business a formal industry.

Presiding over a meeting during his visit to Gadani the ship-breaking yard on Monday, the senior minister said the provincial government was taking steps on a priority basis to provide a peaceful and secure environment to the investors and people of the province in Gadani.

The meeting reviewed the performance of the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) and suggested many steps for making the authority a more effective institution initiating more development projects in the province.

While speaking at the meeting about the modernisation of the Gadani ship-breaking yard, the minister urged the BDA to prepare a human resource development plan that provides direct benefits to the people.

Minister visits Gadani, says Balochistan govt to introduce ship-breaking legislation soon

He disclosed that the federal government has approved a Rs12 billion project to transform the Gadani ship-breaking yard into a “model yard”. This project would help expand the ship-breaking industry and provide facilities to investors, he added.

The minister added that under the Hong Kong Convention roadmap, the government is implementing a plan for environmentally safe recycling of end-of-life ships.

Apart from generating tax revenue, the Gadani ship-breaking recycling industry is playing a role model’s part in national economic development.

Earlier, the BDA chairman briefed the minister about the approved project that included the development of road infrastructure, a 30-bed hospital, a state-of-the-art rescue centre, a fire brigade station, a one-window facilitation centre, and a water supply project.

In the briefing, it was also mentioned that work is underway on a project to establish treatment and storage facilities for hazardous waste generated from ship recycling operations at Gadani.

The ship-breaking industry provides raw material to steel sector re-rolling mills and allied industries in Pakistan, which are a source of livelihood for a number of people.

A delegation of the ship-breakers association pointed out that the industry had been affected in recent years by smuggled, non-custom-paid scrap from Iran. They urged the government to take steps to stop the influx of scrap that would ultimately result in increase in tax revenue.

The minister appreciated the association’s role and suggestions for the industry’s development and assured them that he would take up the matter with the federal government.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2025