ISLAMABAD: As the Privatisation Commission (PC) moves forward for revival of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Stakeholders Group (SG) has raised serious concerns over its scheme of arrangement (SoA).
SG has called the PSM revival SoA as a flawed one and warned to the decision-makers of its failure, causing another mega loss to the national exchequer.
SG called process of PSM revival as non-transparent and claimed that PC SoA was bound to fail.
SG chairman, Mumraiz Khan, when contacted by NEWSMAN said “ PC is playing game for someone by applying a non-transparent process for revival of PSM and my group (SG) will go to any extent to force the PTI government to have a competent and capable board of directors (BOD) to revive this mega industrial unit of Pakistan”,
Mumraiz Khan had a lifelong history of opposing wrongdoings in PSM. The decision-makers should take his group’s suggestions seriously to ensure revival of the mills without wastage of more time and financial resources.
In its letters addressed to Finance minister, Shaukat Tarin, Privatisation minister, Mohammad Mian Soomro, and other concerned top decision-makers SG noted that a wrong approach on the subject in hand (PSM) revival has already caused loss of Rs 625 billion approximately to the national exchequer, besides turning a mega industrial project of Pakistan into a junkyard.
PSM is among those sick industrial units which are causing loss of billions of rupee to the national exchequer every year, PSM closure and turning it from a profit-making entity to a sick unit rather literally like a big junkyard has burdened Pakistan’s economy in two ways, On one hand, Its closure forced the respective governments to inject money to the tune of Rs 600 billion plus since 2005 to pay its bills, salaries to the employees and other day- to –day liabilities and on the other its benefit in the form of steel production to the national economy has remained an allusion.
The public sector industrial units like PSM play a vibrant role in growth of national economy by contributing its products to meet demand in domestic market. Running of such units in public sector is devised to compete with private sector and avoid market distortions.
In the case of Pakistan, it’s the private sector mafia, which conspired in connivance with the state machinery to make such big industrial units non-competitive to create an impression in decision-making fora and public that public sectors entities are meant to cause loss to the national economy.
In the case of Pakistan, such mafias are so abundant, callous and target-oriented they get appointed their like-minded managements in public sector entities and then guide them cunningly to do decisions which ultimately end- up at the loss to the state with no future of the public sector entities.
This is a real story of PSM. It was gifted by Russian to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto when he was prime minister of Pakistan in 7os . Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a visionary leader and he dreamed of making Pakistan self reliant in steel production. No doubt, PSM was a state of the art industrial unit of the time. As per original scheme, it was to be expanded to enhance its production in due course of time. After successful operations for first years of its establishment it became a milking cow for political groups like MQM, PPP and many others, They got inducted thousands of ghost employees basically party goons who were running terror network under the political parties’ shadow. These political groups (MQM and PPP with prime role as extortionist had their hired vultures like Riaz Lal Gee to plunder every penny from PSM through selected sales, awarding product agencies to front-men to get commission from them on sale of steel products.
PPP supremo, Asif Ali Zardari, had dozens of front-men who not only extorted financial resources of PSM for years and turned this mega industrial unit into a junkyard, but he also got appointed his cronies as chairmen who intentionally damaged PSM through ill-intended decisions that benefited private sector mafia of steel industry and led to complete closure of PSM in PMLN rule. Interestingly, PMLN supremo, Nawaz Sharif whose family business was steel and he personally is known as a man of ‘Steal’ was the prime minister of Pakistan when this once golden asset 9PSM) died down completely.
