DAILY DAWN
17th March 1958
Mujib demands 4 ship for East Pakistan
DACCA, March 16: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, General Secretary of the East Pakistan Awami League, on Friday appealed to the Central Government to allot at least four ships for East Pakistan supplying courses from the total number of nine ships to be purchased by various shipping agencies. In a statement issued here Mr.Rahman said: “I understand that the Central Government will very soon take a decision on the allotment of nine ships to be purchased by various shipping companies. Out of these nine ships seven will go to West Pakistani shipping concerns based in Karachi.
“The net result of this allocation will be that the East Pakistani shipping concerns will be deprived of any share in coastal shipping of Pakistan.”
The General Secretary, referring to the Prime Minister’s statement on parity, requested him to see that East Pakistan gets at least 50 percent of the fresh allocation, because in the long 10 years not one ship was given to East Pakistani Shipping concerns.” Concluding he said:
“When I was a Minister, the Central Government had sanctioned Rs 1,00,00,000 for expansion of shipping and called for East Pakistan Government recommendations. The East Pakistan Government recommended two shipping concerns for the entire amount. But unfortunately no licence was issued to any of them.”-APP.