KARACHI, March 16: The first ever dirty cargo terminal, Pakistan International Bulk Terminal (PIBT) is being constructed at a cost of $175 million at Port Qasim on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The proposed facility will be capable of handling up to 12 million tons per annum of coal, cement and clinker. The project is expected to come into operations by start of 2015. The jetty shall have a depth of 15 meters with the capacity of handling large ships of up to 75,000dwt. The length of the jetty would be around 460 meters which will be connected to the back area of 25 hectares with a 2.5km long trestle bridge. The terminal is planned to have dedicated storage and handling facilities for each type of cargo i.e. cement, clinker and coal. There will be five silos of 10,000 tons capacity each for cement storage. The PIBT is being developed on Environment Management Plan (EMP) in compliance with applicable laws and regulations of the country. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) performance standards and World Bank group environmental health and safety guidelines are also being met. In this regard a signing ceremony of the civil works contracts for the construction of country’s first mechanised dirty cargo terminal between PIBT and JV Consortium of Turkish firm M/s Siyahkalem-and local firm Maqbool Associates took place on Thursday.