Maritime Affairs Minister for re-boosting of ship breaking industry
The minister also highlighted the ongoing development of harmonizing national laws
KARACHI (APP) – Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi on Friday said that Pakistan used to be No.1 in the global ranking of Ship Breaking Industry in past but due to improper human resource management and collective failure had brought the country’s ranking to 4th position in the world.
Addressing on the concluding day of three-day national seminar on ratification & implementation of the Hong Kong Convention for safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships, the Minister said that Ministry of Maritime Affairs had no Fisheries Development Commissioner (FDC) for the last ten years which showed our non-serious attitude towards marine industry in the past, according to a statement.
Ali Zaidi said : “The good news is that this seminar is first of its kind to be held in Pakistan. Although we are not the signatory to this convention, we will soon become its party to re-boost the ship breaking industry by increasing employment, assuring the safety of the workforce and protecting from environmental hazards”.
The minister also highlighted the ongoing development of harmonizing national laws in line with the Hong Kong Convention. He said that despite several challenges, Ministry of Maritime Affairs was adamantly sticking to the reform agenda of reviving the country’s old glory in ship breaking industry by closely coordinating with International Maritime Organisation and national stakeholders.
The national seminar was a collaborative effort of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. The seminar was aimed at creating awareness about the Convention among the local stakeholders and to build capacity of public & private organizations dealing with the Ship Breaking Industry.
IMO consultants, Gudrun Janssens and Fan Yunzhi conducted the seminar.
All the relevant stakeholders of Pakistan such as Directorate General Ports and Shipping under Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Climate Change, Commerce, FBR, Port authorities, PNSC, Ship Breakers Association, Gaddani Labor Representatives and relevant departments from the Government of Balochistan participated in the seminar.
Federal Minister Ali Zaidi distributed certificates among the participants including IMO consultants. Total sixteen countries had signed the convention. The Convention would come into force in Pakistan once the prescribed criteria are met.
