ISLAMABAD: Jan 10 : Senate panel on Industries and Production is taking- up Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) on Thursday to review its latest status as this Pakistan’s largest industrial unit rather a golden asset is keep on causing Rs 100 million loss per day to the national exchequer.
The notice served by the Senate Standing on Industries and Production is going to listen a tale as to how PSM is being ruined by various mafias. PSM’s accumulative financial losses and liabilities have crossed Rs 700 billion mark and its adding another Rs 100 million to this loss per day, but this huge bleeding of national resources PSM does not seem enough for decision-makers to move to take a right decision.
The decision- makers are least interested in stopping of PSM’s bleeding. They are perhaps more interested in protecting mafias that is involved in ruining PSM for years. PSM is, no doubt, a great asset and its functioning could give Pakistan an edge in many ways. PSM’s output for years in 80s and 90s speaks of its utilization. Then this big industrial asset fell into to the hands of mafia which not only looted it, but also made every move to prove that PSM is a liability and it needs to be privitised. The mafias which are behind PSM’s destruction ares so powerful that they stop every ruler from making this steel mills functional.
Stakeholder Group’s chairman, Mumraiz Khan, is perhaps the only man in the country who has not given up his efforts to make the mafia-infected decision-makers feel that PSM is not a liability and it can be turned into a profit- making entity by using the local financial resources and technical expertise.
Mumraiz Khan deplores that the decision- makers sitting in Islamabad are prone to mafias’ moves and they are acting to appease these mafias. Mumraiz Khan said “I am sad that PSM is making loss of Rs 100 million per day, but it does not make the decision –makers feel that the money going down the drain in PSM is public money and it’s a big national loss”.
Mumraiz Khan said he wrote hundreds of letters to the Industries and Production ministry to revive the mills, but unfortunately none was entertained by the secretary who is also principal accounting officer of the ministry of Industries and Production. The Senate Panel should question to the officials of the ministry of Industries and Production as to how much is daily loss of closed PSM?. The Senate Panel should also question to the officials of the ministry of Industries and Production as to how an absconder is acting as PSM’s board chairman ?.