To uplift fishermen in Gwadar, the federal government on Wednesday approved a move to give owners of fishing boats new engines in a grant worth Rs822.75 million.
This was approved on Wednesday during a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet. The meeting was chaired by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while it was attended by Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel, former prime minister and MNA Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, SAPM on Government Effectiveness Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Coordinator to PM on Commerce and Industry Rana Ihsan Afzal, Coordinator to PM on economy Bilal Azhar Kiyani, federal secretaries, senior officers attended the meeting.
During the meeting, a summary was moved by the Maritime Affairs Ministry seeking a grant in aid worth Rs822.75 million. The grant would help the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) provide some 3,291 fishermen registered with the Balochistan Fisheries Department, around Rs250,000 each to buy engines for their boats. Dar approved the technical supplementary grant.
It is pertinent to mention here that last week, over a dozen speed boats were turned into ash when a fire erupted in an oil depot in the Kantani Hor area on the outskirts of Gwadar Port.
Oil exploration
During the meeting, the ECC also approved the transfer of 30% of working interest of M/s MoL to M/s MPCL in the Margala Block. The forum was told that the Margala Block is governed by Pakistan Petroleum Exploration under Production Rules 2001.
The acquiring company, M/s MPCL, is operating in Pakistan since 1954 and has working interests in 23 exploration licenses and 15 development and production leases. The ECC also approved technical supplementary grant worth Rs200 million in favor of the federal health ministry and Ghurki Trust teaching Hospital (GTTH) in Lahore.
The Ghurki Trust teaching Hospital (GTTH) is a tertiary care non-profit organization providing modern health facilities to the needy and poor patients. The ECC deferred a summary submitted by energy ministry (Petroleum Division) for foreign exchange coverage to Pakistan State Oil (PSO). The ministry was to resubmit the summary after reviewing their numbers.