The PSM truth

It is hard to believe Sherry Rehman when she claimes that the sitting government is not being fair to the Pakistan Steel Mills. At present PSM employs a staff of nearly 16,000 while its production has not exceeded 17 percent during the last decade. The PPP senator has also claimed that the stoppage of gas supply is aimed at destroying the mill. In the same breath she said that the mill is suffering from ‘stagnant’ production due to low gas and water pressure and disruptive water supply. Sindh CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah also seems to agree with Sherry Rehman.
But the two dignitaries have failed to highlight the costly history of PSM. The mill was earning Rs2.7 billion profit in 2007 when the Musharraf government attempted to privatise it. Since then its production went down to five percent while its staff rose from the required 9,000 personnel to 16,000. The company that once supplied 20 percent steel products to the country now produces nothing. Since 2007, PSM employees have succeeded in coaxing successive governments into paying their salaries, promising higher production in the future. Since 2007, PSM employees have received some Rs25 billion every year as grant, which was mostly used in paying salaries to the staff while no amount was spent on repairs, maintenance or raw material procurement. The PPP-led government alone paid more than Rs150 billion to PSM during its tenure. On the other hand PSM employees were gracious enough to add another Rs500 billion as company liabilities during this time that has to be paid by the government of Pakistan.
Engr Muhammad Baseer Khan
Peshawar