ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Tanveer Hussain Syed has said that the Karachi Shipyard has become a "white elephant" and there is no chance of its revival.

Responding to a calling attention notice, moved by MNAs of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), the secretary told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the government was concerned over the poor financial position of the Karachi Shipyard and worried about the future of its employees.

The notice was moved by Liaquat Baloch, Mohammad Hussain Mehnati, Abdus Sattar Afghani, Mohammad Laeeque Khan and Aisha Munawwar drawing the attention of the defence minister to the issue of "non-payment of salaries to the employees of the Karachi Shipyard for the last four months".

The parliamentary secretary said besides employees, there was a large number of those labourers and workers who were working on daily wages in the shipyard. He requested the finance ministry to release a special grant so that the employees should be paid four months' salaries.

He said the funds should be adequate enough so that the employees could be paid salaries for another six months. He paid tributes to the shipyard employees for not holding any protest demonstration despite their financial difficulties.

He said at least Rs300 million per annum were needed to run the "dead horse". The secretary said though the finance ministry had released Rs386 million and Pakistan Navy Rs200 million for the Karachi Shipyard in the past, but the situation could not be improved.

Moreover, he said, there was no guarantee that the shipyard would again receive orders from other countries in future even if it was revived. Mr Baloch alleged that the Karachi Shipyard was facing the situation due to the fact that the orders were being placed before private industries, instead the shipyard. He asked the parliamentary secretary to present a permanent solution to the issue.

Soon after its establishment in 1970, the secretary said, the shipyard received some orders from Iran, but for the past many years it had not received order from any other country.

He said the machinery of the shipyard had become old and outdated and it was not capable of building ships weighing over 70,000 tons. The secretary said a committee had already been formed to work out a solution to the issue. There was a proposal that the Karachi Shipyard should be used for building ships for the Pakistan Navy to increase its defence capabilities, he added.

Speaking on a point of order, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus said that neither the MMA members nor the parliamentary secretary had mentioned the real problem being faced by the shipyard.

He said actually the Naval Dockyard had encroached upon the Karachi Shipyard and there was a need to end the encroachment. He said the shipyard should not be termed a "dead horse" as there were several other "dead horses" in the country about which no one spoke.