ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: To offset the impact of recommendations by the ad hoc public accounts committee (APAC), efforts have been launched by the government to avert the winding up of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).

A high-level emergency meeting was called by the Federal Minister for Communications, Javed Ashraf Qazi,immediately after the APAC recommendations were received on Tuesday, to discuss measures for saving the PNSC.

It may be mentioned here that the APAC, under chairmanship of I.U.Baig, had on Monday recommended that operation of PNSC be stopped or the corporation be liquidated as it had become a burden on the national exchequer after the accumulation of its Rs1364.391 million liabilities. Besides, it was eating up Rs4 billion, pumped into it by the government, the committee further observed

The meeting was also attended by the Secretary, Communications, Iftikhar Rashid, and PNSC chairman Tanveer Hussain Naqvi.

The minister spoke about steps being taken to turn the corporation into a profitable body.

He said it was the only institution dealing with shipping sector in the country and, keeping this in view, President Gen.Pervez Musharraf had directed the concerned authorities to keep it intact and take effective measures to make it a profitable organization.

The minister said that despite losses suffered by the PNSC, it had carried out important national assignments.