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Dry port fire losses

Mukhtar promises

accurate figures

within a week

SHAHID MALIK

LAHORE: Minister for Commerce Ch. Ahmad Mukhtar has avowed to release accurate figures for the Lahore Dry Port fire losses within a week, saying that the assessment by a section of the press (not Business Recorder) was highly exaggerated.

Speaking to newsmen at the Lahore Railway Station, where he was the 'chief guest' at the inaugural ceremony of a new air-conditioned non-stop train service between Lahore and Karachi, Ch. Mukhtar described the figure of Rs 40 billion as "very exaggerated, which means one tenth of our total annual requirement". This cannot be true, he said.

When reminded that the speculation about the value of the fire losses had stemmed from the government's silence on the subject, the minister said: "Estimated figures can create problems, so the government has to release exact figures, which may take another five to seven days".

Secretary Railways Mian Mohammad Azhar confirmed that with an inventory of the lost goods having already been prepared, it would be possible to offer an objective assessment in two days. The delay in assessing the damage, he said, had resulted from the fact that the invoices and the bills of lading were kept with the Customs authorities and it was well-neigh impossible to determine the lose on the basis of freight receipts.

Asked about the departmental inquiry being conducted by the Pakistan Railways, Mian Azhar said it would take time to find out the causes of the fire incident. It was, however, clear that the synthetic material, which caught fire first, had been lying unclaimed outside the shed for a long time, he said.

Answering a question about any monetary compensation for the importers affected by the fire, the Minister for Commerce said that the goods had to be insured as a rule. "If somebody had indulged in under-invoicing to avoid high premiums, then he will be punished because that was the Will of God. But those with realistic assessment of value for the insurance cover, there was nothing to fear", the minister said.