KARACHI, Aug 23: The government has reconstituted a high-powered committee to investigate the collapse of two berths (No 10 and 14) at the East Wharf on Aug 10-11.

Contrary to previous committee members who were not competent and did not have required technical qualification, the new members mostly belong to civil engineering and are experts in ports and shipping.

Sources in Ministry of Ports and Shipping told Dawn that the new four-member committee would be headed by Gen (retd) Zubair Ahmed, member infrastructure, Planning Commission, and includes Asad Ali Shah, also a member of the Planning Commission, Farooq Chaudhary, former general manager, Planning and Development, KPT, and Saeed Malik an engineer and former member of the Planning Commission.

All the new members have rich experience in civil works and port development works and have been asked by the government to submit their report in a week.

Ports and Shipping experts, while appreciating the decision of setting up of a new committee, demanded of the government to hold inquiry as to who was responsible for the constitution of an earlier committee of non-professionals as it was an attempt to manipulate and conceal facts about the mishap.