ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday
asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the
shutdown and collapse of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
In
a letter written to NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal, PTI’s MNA
Asad Umar requested him to initiate a probe into the gradual decline of
the PSM and take action against those who were responsible for the
failure of the massive industrial project and a huge loss to the
country.
He urged NAB to also investigate why the PML-N
government severed gas connections to the PSM two years ago when the
condition of the organisation was improving.
The letter
said that PSM had played a vital role in the industrial development of
the country, but in June 2015, the gas supply was cut off which led to
the closure of all operations of the PSM and its shutdown.
“According
to the information provided to the National Assembly’s Standing
Committee on Industries and Production, the PSM was incurring a loss of
approximately Rs1.4 billion each month, resulting in the loss of
precious foreign exchange being spent on the import of steel in the
country, both in private and public sectors,” the PTI lawmaker said.
He
said salaries were being paid to employees after a delay of several
months and retirement benefits were overdue in a majority of cases for
several years.
“The situation has become so bad that people are committing suicide,” Mr Umar lamented.
He
said that despite all this, the apathy of the government was obvious in
complete dereliction of its duty as no decision was taken to resolve
the matter and the massive losses were allowed to continue unabated.
The
PTI lawmaker said that the National Assembly’s committee had taken up
the matter several times, but in each meeting the government came up
with a lame excuse that “it is looking into several options for the
revival of the PSM”.
“The standing committee in its
meeting held on July 13 decided to send a reference to NAB to
investigate the matter,” the PTI leader said.
In the
letter, NAB has been asked to probe why the gas supply of PSM was
disconnected and no investigation was initiated by the government,
though both organisations — the PSM and Sui Southern Gas Company — were
controlled by the government through the Ministry of Industries and
Production and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.
The
PTI leader also asked why the PSM was allowed by the government to
continue its downward slide for more than two years without any decision
being taken by the government for corrective measures.
Mr
Umar also requested NAB to ascertain who were responsible for the
downfall of the PSM which was about to take off and getting out of the
crisis in 2015, but suddenly it suffered a setback when its gas supply
was cut off.
“Is the shutdown of the PSM and its
continuing closure the result of a deliberate attempt of some vested
interests who gain commercially because of the shutdown of the mills?”
the letter asked.
The PTI leader also asked what total
loss was caused to the national economy as a result of the government’s
negligence towards the PSM.
