Dredging of Navigation Channel of Gwadar Port among seven projects approved

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved the Dredging of the Navigation Channel of Gwadar Port with the cost of Rs. Rs 4.670 billion.
CDWP which met in Islamabad last week approved a total of seven development projects worth Rs 22.16 billion.
Projects relating to Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, Maritime Affairs, and National Health Services Regulations & Coordination, and HEC were on the table in the moot.
The meeting approved Balochistan Urgent Response for Food Security Project costing Rs 1,100.000 million. The project envisages the revival of agriculture production in the severe flood-affected districts of the Nasirabad Division. It aims to the provision of rice seeds for increased productivity to 60,000 farm households in the target districts.
Maritime Affairs’ scheme Maintenance, Dredging of the Navigational Channel of Gwadar Port project costing Rs 4,669.762 million was the next scheme to be approved in the meeting. The project envisages maintenance dredging of a 4.70-kilometer long navigational channel, basin, and berthing area of Gwadar Port.
The Internal Navigational Channel and Turning Basin design depth is 13.8 meters for safe navigation of deep draft vessels and the Berthing Area and Outer channel are dredged to 14.5 meters to permit safe berthing and sufficient clearance from the bottom in low tides. The channel is designed for the navigation of 50,000 DWT ships during all weather.
The CDWP approved Social Sector Accelerator SSA for Health, Nutrition, Education, Youth and Gender (HNEYG), National Priority Initiatives (2nd Revision) at the cost of Rs 4,828.05 million.
The project was moved by the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives.
The Ministry of Planning and Development proposed a one-year “Prime Minister Youth Internship Program” for fresh graduates in Pakistan. Under the program, the Ministry will award paid internships to all eligible applicants that qualify for the program through the proposed selection criterion for a duration of six months. Following their selection, the Ministry will facilitate the placement of interns in positions relevant to their skills and job function in host organizations spanning across the public, private and development sectors.
Furthermore, the interns will receive a stipend of Rs 25,000/month. A total of 30,000 internships will be awarded through the one-year program. Upon the successful completion of their internship, interns will be awarded an internship certificate by their host organization and by the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives.
The six-month internship program will include three online mentorship sessions culminating in an individual career development plan, one online training course on soft skills, one online training course on industry-relevant technical skills, one two-day voluntary activity, recurring monthly work plans and monthly progress reports, and one final internship report along with internship outputs.
The forum also approved the Provision of Academic & Research Facilities & Girls’ Hostel at Quaid-e-Azam University, at the cost of Rs3,860.355m. The HEC is the sponsoring agency of the project. The prime objective of the project is to strengthen Ph.D./MPhil programs and to strengthen newly started BS programs. This requires expansion in basic infrastructural facilities within the university. It will include expansion in physical infrastructure (Academic Block, Examination/Services Block, Students Hostels, Centralized Laboratory, Boundary Wall, Cafeteria, and Laboratory Equipment) for graduate students.
The forum approved the Establishment of a Partnership between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the GOP to address grand challenges in the health sector at the cost of Rs 220.000 million. The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination is the sponsoring agency of the project. It is a new project with the purpose to provide grants for improving the health sector (management and delivery) in ICT, AJK, and GB using innovative approaches and technologies from researchers, entrepreneurs, scholars, and practitioners in Pakistan, in alignment with the goals of global grand challenges program. Accordingly, all the projects to be taken up will be developmental interventions that have seldom been tried before warranting. During the first round, the projects will function over 5 years, which is the most critical period from the perspective of attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030.
The forum approved a project of King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud Hospital at Tarlai, Islamabad, at the cost of Rs 2,499.993m. The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination is the sponsoring agency hospital. The hospital will be established in ICT and it will accommodate a 200 beds facility for the specialties of Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology, OPD, and Emergency Services including residential accommodation for doctors and nurses and a mosque.