KARACHI: Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBT) will be the country’s first dedicated dirty bulk cargo handling facility which will be constructed with a total estimated cost of approximately $173 million over the period of 10 years. Sharique A Siddique, Chief Executive Officer PIBT Saturday informed media during a signing ceremony of Implementation Agreement (IA) for the development of Pakistan’s fist mechanized and fully automated environment friendly Coal, Cement and Clinker Terminal at Port Qasim on a thirty (30) year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. In presence of Captain Haleem A Siddiqui, Chairman Marine Group of Companies, the IA for the Terminal Operating Company, PIBT was signed by Chairman PQA Vice Admiral M Shafi HI(M) and Chief Executive Officer PIBT, Mr Sharique A Siddique. Sharique said that the Port Qasim Authority have sought the participations of foreign and national firms, six firms were pre-qualified for the project. Pakistan International Container Terminal Limited (PICT) being technically and financially best, amongst the bidders, was selected for the project, he added. As per the requirements of PQA, a separate Terminal Operating Company PIBT has been incorporated to carry on the project, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PICT. While talking to Daily Times Sahrique said that the project is expected to come into operations in three years whit an initial project cost of $40 million. He said that PIBT would be capable of handling 8 million tonnes per annum of coal, cement and clinker. The jetty shall have a depth of 15 meters with a capability of handling large ships of upto 75000 DWT. The length of the jetty would be around 460 meters which will be connected to the back-up area of 25 hectares with a 2.5 kilomters long. The terminal is planned to have a dedicated storage and handling facilities for each type of cargo. PIBT is expected to contribute billions of rupees in the national exchequer through taxes and duties. The project will also contribute toward opening up of new employment opportunities in the country including a healthy contribution toward the GDP of the country. The holding company of PIBT, PICT is the only Container Terminal in Pakistan which is owned by Pakistanis and is the only terminal to be listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. The total investments made in PICT terminal and berths comes around $150 million. PICT also has a distinction of being financed by International Finance Corporation, a private sector arm of World Bank Group and is also the first Pakistani private sector project being financed by OPEC Fund for international development.