KARACHI: There are no layouts or drawings on the table, though such sketches are usually required to build high-quality boats that can navigate stormy waters and survive rough seas. Yet, workers are busy at the biggest boat-building yard in Pakistan that is located at the fish harbor in the port city of Karachi.
“Everything, right from drawing to layout and measurements, is there in our minds,” smiles 52-year-old Muhammad Arshad while doing his work.
A carpenter, Arshad is among the 3500 skilled workers who are employed by the country’s informal boat building sector. He has spent the last 35 years at this facility, which also employs a number of unskilled laborers.
Most workers here earn between Rs1200 ($11) and Rs1500 ($14) on a daily basis, though some of them, with exceptionally high skills, even pocket Rs1800 ($17) per day.
Since drawings, charts, and layouts are alien objects to the craftsmen here, they usually discuss the owner’s requirements in details while booking an order. Their standard conversation at such occasions may include questions about the material that needs to be used and the measurements of the vessel, among other things.
Despite the traditional methodology of its workers, the boat-building yard is known for its skilled craftsmanship. Its signature quality is reflected in the design, stability, and beauty of the products.
“We make fishing boats and cargo ships for domestic and international clients,” Hajji Muhammad, President of the Boat Builders’ Association, told Arab News. “We also supply our products to Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”
A fishing ship manufactured at the yard can cost between Rs1 million ($9506) and Rs20 million ($190114), depending on its design and the quality of the material.
“A ship equipped with 400 horsepower engine costs about Rs20 million, depending on the wood we use,” he added. “The price may further go up, if additional material is consumed.”
Under normal circumstances, a medium size boat can take about a year to complete. Cargo ships take much longer, even though they demand more labor and work hours.
Currently, the builders are taking orders for cargo vessels since the demand for fishing boats has gone down due to a variety of reasons, including the use of over-aged vessels.
“The prices of cargo boats is usually between Rs30 million ($285171) to Rs120 million ($1140685),” said Hajji Muhammad.
Owing to the time-consuming nature of the job, about 30 to 40 fishing vessels are built every year. This is over and above the repair work at the yard that rarely comes to an end.
The average life of a boat is 25 years, but a significantly large number of fishermen rely on their old vessels since many of them cannot afford new ones. The Karachi Fish Harbor Authority (KFHA), which regulates the harbor’s affairs, plans to formalize the sector by introducing some basic facilities.
“We want to give it the status of an industry and make it one of the foreign exchange earning sectors by encouraging exports of fishing and cargo boats,” said Mudassir Iqbal, KFHA Managing Director.
Pakistan’s craftsmen build boats without layouts and sketches
Pakistan’s craftsmen build boats without layouts and sketches
Pakistan PM orders strategy to improve project execution as multilateral lenders propose reforms
- Shehbaz Sharif says he will personally lead a steering committee to speed up priority projects
- Four working groups proposed to streamline approvals, procurement, land issues and staffing
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed officials to draw up a detailed strategy to improve the planning and execution of development projects, saying he would personally chair a steering committee aimed at ensuring timely and transparent completion of priority schemes.
The move came during a meeting where the World Bank and Asian Development Bank presented recommendations to the government on strengthening project implementation.
According to the prime minister’s office, participants received a briefing that said project approvals involve multiple steps and need simplification, while timely procurement and better readiness tools could also help accelerate implementation.
“National projects of critical importance must be completed transparently and on time,” Sharif told officials, according to the statement. “This is our priority.”
He said the federal and provincial steering committee on development-sector reforms would be headed by him.
The statement said four working groups were also proposed during the meeting: one to review approval and preparation processes, a second to modernize procurement, a third to address land acquisition and resettlement challenges, and a fourth to focus on human-resource alignment and staff deployment for development schemes.
Sharif thanked the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for their support and said development projects must be aligned with the objectives of Pakistan’s Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) and provincial Annual Development Plans (ADPs).
The meeting was attended by senior federal ministers, provincial representatives, senior civil servants and the country directors of both multilateral lenders.
