Karachi—The ground breaking ceremony of Pakistan International Bulk Cargo Terminal (PIBT the first dirty cargo handling terminal at Port Qasim at an estimated cost of $184 million today was the ice breaking event in the face of almost idle investment climate persisting for quite sometimes in the country. Performed by Vice Admiral® Muhammed Shafi, Chairman Port Qasim, the ground breaking ceremony was well attended by the prominent personalities from port and shipping industry, Commercial Consul of Turkish Consulate, representatives of the consortium of Pakistan Turkishconstruction company “Siyahkalem-Maqbool a joint venture which has been awarded the construction contract for the prestigious terminal which likely to come on the ground next two and half years. Highlighting the salient features of the project Shariq A siddiqui, the Chief Executive Officer of the project said that the PIBT would be spreading over 62 acres of land at Port Qasim, and will have the storing capacity of 9 million tons of coal, besides world class cement silos and clinker storage facilitybeing designed equipped for protecting the environment and ecology around the port. One of the most interesting features of the project disclosed by Capt. Haleem Siddiqui the Chairman PIBP was an environment control agreementsigned between IUCN and PIBT with an emphasis of developing, grooming and plantation of mangroves over a huge span of 500 hectares. The growth of mangroves around port Qasim will not only help environment control but also lend a massive support for growth of marine life alongside the coastal area of Port Qasim. This mangrove project has helped winning the support of the World Bank as well which has a 20 percent equity share in the project. In his opening remarks Vice Admiral Muhammad Shafi Chairman Port Qasim while Calling the project as an addition to the prestige of Port Qasim extended all out support of Port Authority to facilitate completion of the project and resolve the possible issues prop up during the course of construction.. In this respect he also announced a one window facility for smooth sailing of the dirty cargo project which would naturally help cheaper fuel supply to the coal based power generation activity in the country. Describing the ground breaking ceremony as a dream coming to reality, Capt. Haleem Siddiqui a committed Pakistani from his heart and soul said that he has a passion to develop ports infrastructure to the level which should be second to none in the global marine industry. Recalling the a long journey to come to this point of reality, Capt. Haleem Siddiqui said that this project was advertised in 2007 and we stood as the best bidder of the project, however the project was delayed for some reasons which however escalated the cost of the project from initial $130 million to $184 million today. Had this decision taken earlier the project would have contributed significantly in addressing the energy issues besides augmenting the port facilities for other lose cargo as well. He was confident that the project will be operational before schedule to contribute significantly in the economy of the country.