- ‘Destruction of a profit-making entity is the manifestation of maladministration on part of previous govts’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday directed the Ministry of Trade and Commerce to accelerate its efforts regarding the revival of the Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM), reiterating his government’s priority to restore and recover the entity from losses.
Chairing a meeting to review the progress on the revival of the PSM, the prime minister said that the destruction of a profit-making entity was the manifestation of maladministration and negligence on part of the previous governments.
Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and commerce and privatisation secretaries were also present on the occasion.
The prime minister was apprised on the existing condition of the mill, losses inflicted by its closure and progress on the implementation of the decisions taken by the incumbent government for the mill’s revival.
It was informed that PSM had been earning profits till 2008, but went into losses in 2009 before being closed in 2015. “The entity was constantly making losses and the government had to bear Rs370 million per month for the payment of employees’ salaries,” the PM was informed.
WORKERS’ SALARIES
Meanwhile, workers of the Pakistan Steel Mills staged a demonstration at Karachi’s Jinnah Gate on Monday, claiming that they “haven’t been paid for the past few months”.
The protesters demanded that they should be paid two-month salaries before Eidul Azha.
They criticised the authorities for not paying pensions to retired employees, highlighting that over 5,000 retired employees have not received their pensions yet.
The workers called for the appointment of a regular chief executive officer and a chief financial officer at the mills.
“Currently, an acting CFO and an acting CEO are running the organisation’s affairs. We demand the removal of acting CFO Arif Shaikh,” they maintained.
The PSM employees said corruption in the organisation should be stopped and the corrupt officials should be held accountable.
Last month, Abdul Razak Dawood, during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Industries and Production, had said that the government would lease PSM on public-private partnership for which Chinese, Russian and South Korean companies have approached the government of Pakistan.
During the same meeting, Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari had stated, “After the 18th constitutional amendment, all the assets of PSM, including land, are the property of the Sindh government.”
