Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
We don’t need schools we need clean drinking water for children” stated Senator Naseema Ehsan while lamenting the condition of the local people around the coastal areas of Balochistan.
The senator expressed these views while speaking in the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs, whic met here on Wednesday at parliament house while Senator Rubina Khalid was on chair.
The Committee was briefed on Blue Economy, it’s major sectors and initiatives by the Ministry to spearhead the Blue Economy.
At the outset of the meeting the committee members expressed their concern on the problems faced by the residents of coastal areas of Sindh and Baluchistan.
Senator Naseema Ehsan told the committee that people living in coastal areas were confronting countless problems. These people don’t need construction of schools, claiming that they required safe drinking water.
Secretary Ministry of Maritime Affairs said that the issue comes in the domain of the Provincial Government.
Senator Moula Bux Chandio proposed that the Ministry should write to the Provincial Government of Balochistan to address the problem of clean drinking water and other concerns of the local residents near the coastal areas.
The Committee received a detailed briefing on the Blue Economy by the Secretary. The committee was apprised that the estimated value of ocean assets around the world is about 24 trillion US $ and world have ranked Blue economy 7th if measured with top 10 global economies (WWF-2015).
The Committee was informed that after the approval of claim by United Nations Commission on the Limits of the continental shelf in 2015, Pakistan has achieved a maritime territory of 350 N (nautical miles), which comprises 200 N of Exclusive Economic zone (EEZ) and an area of 150 N as continental shelf. The maritime sovereignty of Pakistan has been established on the total area of 290,000 sq.
