Daily Times

In a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, the Federal Secretary Maritime Affairs Rizwan Ahmed said that the contract related to the affairs of Godar Port is ‘secret’ and its details cannot be disclosed to the public.

According to the sources, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Senator Farooq Hamid Naik ask to present copies of contracts and related documents to Federal Secretary for Maritime Affairs Rizwan Ahmed regarding awarding contracts and sub-contracts related to Gwadar Free Zone.

Rizwan Ahmed had replied that the documents could not be shared with the chairman of the Senate committee and read out a paragraph of the agreement stating that the contents of the agreement would be kept confidential.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has also allowed existing construction projects to get benefit of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s second tax amnesty scheme.

“The 2007 and 2013 concession and novation agreements cannot be shared, as there is a confidentiality clause in the agreement,” said Maritime Affairs Secretary Rizwan Ahmad during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. The committee had sought the document after the secretary acknowledged a day earlier that under the 2007 concession agreement only a 20-year tax holiday was agreed and there was no mention of sub-contractors.

The government has proposed a 40-year tax holiday for Gwadar Port concession holders, developers, contractors, lenders and sub-contractors. In the past, the agreement had never been shared with either the National Assembly or the Senate, said the secretary, inviting fierce reaction from the committee members.