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Lahore Dry Port fire

FPCCI chief

demands probe

by high level body

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has demanded constitution of a high powered committee to probe into Lahore Dry Port incident.

Senator Ilyas Bilour, President, FPCCI in a statement to the press issued here today called upon the government to constitute a high level committee headed by the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court to probe into the fire incident which resulted in colossal material damage and loss to the importers.

He said that the proposed high-level committee which may comprise representatives of FPCCI, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Customs and the Railways should pin-point the cause of the blaze so that the matter of compensation to the affected importers could be decided and effective measures could be taken at all the dry ports in the country to avoid the recurrence of such incidents.

He remarked that this sad incident has clearly brought into lime light the loop-holes in the safety and security arrangements at the Lahore Dry Port, which has caused great concern to the importers. Bilour pointed out that fire incidents of smaller nature have been occurring in the past and if a thorough probe to determine the exact causes of such fires had been undertaken earlier this disaster of high magnitude could have been avoided.

He further stated that the incident has also revealed other negative aspects which need to be removed such as inefficiency of the fire--fighting arrangements and the confusion over the assignment of responsibility for handling and security of goods at the dry port. He urged the government to announce immediate constitution of the high-level committee so that the real cause of the disaster could be determined.