Payment freeze ordered in port land acquisition

After the detection of irregularities leading to the cancellation of 500-acre Port Qasim land sale last month, the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs on Tuesday reviewed the current state of Port Qasim’s land holdings and ordered immediate freezing of pending payments in land acquisition deals at Port Qasim, KPT, Gwadar Port and PNSC. The relevant officials earlier briefed the Senate panel, headed by Senator Faisal Vawda, about the land holdings of Port Qasim. The committee meeting, which was attended by Senators Danesh Kumar, Naseema Ehsan, Rubina Qaimkhani, Husna Bano, Nadeem Bhutto and senior officials, was apprised that Port Qasim owns around 14,000 acres of land, of which 9,574 acres were leased out.