Gwadar Port’s formal inauguration in third week of March: Ghouri



QUETTA, Feb 22 (APP): Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghouri Thursday said Gwadar Port would formally be inaugurated by President Musharraf in the third week of March.

Addressing a press conference here at Quetta Press Club on Thursday, he said a festival would be held in Gwadar prior to opening of the port in which various events including fireworks demonstration would be organised to mark the inauguration.

He said the port would be operated by the Port of Singapore, one of the best port operators in the world, and assured that top priority would be given to Balochistan people in employments at the port.

“Those who are currently working at the port have also been taken from Balochistan out of whom 125 were provided technical training at Islamabad on government expenditures,” he said.

“We also talked to the political parties of Balochistan about the Gwadar Port and heard their suggestions in this regard,” he said, and added that the construction of the port has started costing positive impacts on the lives of common man in the province.

Best buildings, roads and five-star hotel have been constructed in the city while the coastal highway has ensured easy access of local fishermen to Karachi to earn reasonable profit on their catches, he quoted, and said a civic centre is nearly complete in Gwadar where all the civic facilities would be available to common man.

The Port of Singapore has also chalked out a plan to export fish directly from Gwadar instead of taking them to Karachi for export.

“President Musharraf has given much more to Balochistan than its due share owing to which this backward province is now on the way to progress and prosperity,” he observed, and hoped that the present government would make a clean sweep in the upcoming elections due to its development projects.

He said Muttahida Qaumi Movement would field its candidates in all the constituencies throughout the country in next general elections and added that MQM would formally launch its election preparations after the party meeting in London on March 23.

Rejecting PPP- Parliamentarians allegations of rigging in recent election in Karachi, Ghouri observed when the PPP-P candidate wins the election in Shikarpur the party terms the polling as fair and transparent, but when its candidate loses election in Karachi the allegations of rigging are leveled against the same Election Commission.

“PPP candidates never returned from this constituency since 1970 as it is a stronghold of MQM,” he said, and described the finger pointing towards ECP as unfair and irrational.

PPP itself is a party which always conducted rigging in elections which is also evident from the history, he said, and added that the rigging in 1970s elections by PPP led to dismemberment of Pakistan while in 1977 to military rule.


http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=...13&Itemid=2

Gwadar to be modern city of Pakistan: Ghauri


KARACHI: Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, Senator Babar Khan Ghauri has said that Gwadar would be the future modern city of Pakistan.

Addressing a ground-breaking ceremony of a Civic Centre in Gwadar yesterday, he said the completion of ongoing mega projects like Gwadar Port and Coastal Highway will largely contribute towards socio-economic uplift of the inhabitants of Balochistan in general and Gwadar in particular.



The Senator said banks, restaurants, decent houses, shopping centres are also being setup in the city. He said the Civic Centre, to be completed in 18 months at a cost of Rs 188 million, is a gift from the Government to the people of Gwadar.



While inaugrating a Tennis Court in Gwadar city, the Federal Minister said, " The government besides launching development projects in Balochistan is focusing on providing sports facilities to the youth of Gwadar"


http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?169283

The only thing I have seen in Gwader is the 5* hotel which is empty and roads that are still incomplete.

Now a report came out recently about the Mekran Coastal highway that it is too narrow and should have been made as dual carriagway because it cant handle heavy traffic, so why not in the feasibility studies did we not make it dual lane in the firtst place rather than wasteing more and more money on expansion.

Gwader meant to be most modern city yet the airport isnt even under construction and Islamabad airport land was bought years ago and the so called ground breaking coermoney was delayed because of bad weather in December and we are yet to see it happen.

In Pakistan projects takes years first we fight over it and then we make it then by time its made we need to upgrade it, like the Lahore-Islamabad bullet train it meant to be so fast they say you can have breakfast in Lahore and Lunch in Islamabad.