KARACHI – Though the Director General Ministry of Ports and Shipping has been terminated from his position by the government in pursuance of Supreme Court (SC) directives, it does not affect the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) Chairman who is also a retired officer.
The establishment division issued a notification to the Ports and Shipping DG Hassan Zaidi on February 21 stating that his services had been terminated, yet the directives of SC to remove retired officers from government departments did not affect the PQA Chairman Admiral (r) Mohammad Shafi.
However, the Ports and Shipping Secretary Saleem Khan is trying to induct his close friend Opal on the position of DG who is currently an OSD, sources informed Pakistan Today. Currently, a 20-grade officer of the ministry Tariq Sardar has given day-to-day charge of the post of DG.
Sources asked it is ironic that the government did not remove the Chairman of the second biggest port of the country who is also working on contract basis while it has removed the DG despite the fact that ministry already is being run without minister. On the other hand, the ministry is solely run by its secretary Saleem Khan after dissolving of the federal cabinet by the government, and he is while taking benefit of his position tries to induct his close friend Opal on the 21 grade position of DG, source added.
In April last, Ministry of Ports and Shipping Senior Joint Secretary Syed Hassan Zaidi was appointed as the Director General of the Ministry. He was retired as Senior Joint Secretary on May 28, 2009 but was given one-year extension in same post and then he was made DG for two years.
It is pertinent to mention that the previous PQA Chairman Admiral (r) Asad Qureshi was also given three extensions to his service, which was against the government rules. It is also to be noted that the Supreme Court had ordered federal and provincial governments that re-employing the retired employees on contract basis was illegal, therefore, they be removed from their services.
