KARACHI – The alleged cross-contamination of edible and inedible cargoes at local seaports is posing not only a health hazard to consumers, but is also hurting Pakistan’s image as an exporting country in the market.
According to well placed sources, the Port Qasim Authority (PQA), in a sheer violation of international best practices, is allowing the “simultaneous” handling of edible and inedible exportable and imported commodities at Port Qasim.
They said the vessels, carrying thousands of metric tonnes (MT) of wheat and inedible fertiliser and cement, were being handled side-by-side at marginal wharves, numbered I, II, III and IV of the country’s second largest seaport.
The PQA’s daily shipping and cargo statement shows that M.V Free Envoy, M.V Christina, M.V Split and M.V Aquila Voyager, respectively, carrying 22,500 MT wheat, 15,023 MT cement, 35,988 MT fertiliser and 30,470 MT fertiliser are berthed at Marginal Wharf Number I, II, III and IV.
“This is against international cargo handling practices. The port operators across the globe take a special care and refrain from handling edible and inedible cargoes at a single jetty to avoid cross-contamination,” an insider at Port Qasim told Pakistan Today. While wheat is a raw commodity for flour and other essential food items, fertiliser and cement are two inedible products that contain highly health hazardous nitrogenous chemicals.
The situation becomes grimmer when you do not have at the port an ‘enclosed system’ to handle edible and inedible grains in bulk, the insider said. “An enclosed system having no interaction with outside environment enables the port operators to avoid cross-contamination,” he said.
The insider expressed fear that a possible confusion in edible and chemical cargo could have devastating consequences for the consumer. “If wheat mixes up with fertiliser, it could be potentially deadly,” he said, adding “Wheat is used almost in all food items.” In broader terms, the insider said, risky practice would bring Pakistan’s name as an exporting country to disrepute in the extensively globalised international community. At present, the Government of Pakistan is exporting millions of tonnes of excess wheat through private sector in Punjab and Sindh provinces mostly to Bangladesh. Reports of poor packing of exportable bulk wheat at Karachi Port have already raised eyebrows in concerned quarters and require immediate government attention to look into the matter.
“For short-term vested interest they forget the fact that such malpractices might lead to international ban on Pakistan for the export of contaminated wheat,” the insider noted with concern. Commenting on the issue, PQA Chairman Vice Admiral (Retd) Muhamad Shafi rejected the impression outright saying no cross-contamination was taking place at the port under his control. The PQA chief claimed that no wheat was being handled at any of the four berths at the marginal wharf. “Wheat is being handled at FAP (Fauji Akbar Portia, a newly-built dedicated grain terminal) while the fertiliser is at Marginal Wharf,” the chairman asserted. The retired naval officer termed the impression “baseless” and wrong. PQA’s daily shipping statement, however, proves that M.V Free Envoy was berthed at Marginal Wharf I on March 4 to load 22,500 metric tonnes of exportable wheat.
The said ship had a “balance cargo” of 15,853 MT till March 7, the report shows. The ports and shipping experts believe that to avoid cross-contamination the port operators should handle the sensitive cargos at a distance equivalent to at least one berth.
