Minister Ali Zaidi lauds anti-marine pollution initiative by Pakistan Navy

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Haider Zaidi on Friday lauded anti-marine pollution initiative by Pakistan Navy, ARY News reported.

Ali Zaidi was attending the induction ceremony of Marine Debris Collection Barges (MDCBs) as the chief guest. Dignitaries from maritime domain in both public and private sectors also attended the ceremony at Pakistan Navy Dockyard in Karachi.

Upon arrival at Pakistan Navy Dockyard, the chief guest was received by Commander Logistics Rear Admiral Adnan Khaliq.

During his address, he underscored the importance of neat and clean harbours/ environment and emphasised the need to address the issue of marine pollution on priority.

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The minister lauded the chief of the naval staff’s vision to promote and jumpstart ‘Blue Economy’.

While appreciating the PN initiative towards indigenisation and self reliance, Ali Zaidi ensured the support of the government to promote such initiatives in development of technology to overcome grave issues of marine pollution.

After the ceremony, practical demonstration of harbour cleaning through ‘Trash Collection in the Hopper’ by the newly constructed Marine Debris Collection Barges was also carried out.

In line with the prime minister’s vision of Clean & Green Pakistan, PN has always endeavoured to create awareness about marine pollution and spearheaded various initiatives. This initiative of harnessing contemporary technology by indigenously designing as well as manufacturing of Marine Debris Collection Barges at PN Dockyard is a testimony of Pakistan Navy’s resolve for achieving pollution free harbours.

Induction of these state of the art Marine Debris Collection Barges will greatly augment the harbour cleaning capability which was previously undertaken through manual/ conventional means.

Initially, three Mechanized Conveyor Belt Marine Debris Collection Barges have been constructed at PN Dockyard as a pilot project. It is envisaged that other stakeholders of Pakistan’s maritime sector will also come forward and emulate this effort by contributing towards this noble cause of achieving cleaner harbours with enormous spin-offs for marine sector.