News
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Privatisation of PSM against national interest, says Rabbani
Staff Report
KARACHI: The privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) would not resolve the financial problems of the organisation and would not be in the national interest.
This was said by the speakers at a seminar "Pakistan Steel, khasare ke asbaab aur sad-e-baab", which was held at the Karachi Press Club under the aegis of People's Workers Union of the steel mills on Tuesday. Also speaking on the occasion, Senator Raza Rabbani said the PSM has national importance and therefore should not be privatised.
He rejected the notion that privatisation of the mill would resolve its financial problems and even dispelled the mill was suffering financial losses, saying it was set up with an amount of Rs 25 billion and has earned Rs 97 billion. The senator suggested the replacement of the mill's Board of Directors with representatives from its different departments and proposed the parliament's standing committees should decide the appointments in other offices. He also suggested the parliamentary committees should check the balance sheets of PSM every month.
Federal Industries Minister Hazar Khan Bijarani assured the PSM employees that the mill would not be privatised because it was a memorial of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, adding the grant of the bailout package was not an extraordinary step by the government. Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Planning and Development, Dr Qaiser Bengali said though the privatisation of the mills was being talked about since 1998, but no policy has been made so far.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk