PRIME Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed that Pakistan will become an Asian tiger and in some ways he has fulfilled this promise. Tigers don’t need petrol or gas to fill their bellies, nor do they need education, economic self-reliance or electricity.

All they need is meat to fill their bellies, and this country with a population reaching almost 200 million, has plenty to offer.

From an MBBS serving as adviser on petroleum to an Abbottabad Public School alumni advising the prime minister on petroleum, there is no place in this country for men who waste their time acquiring degrees from Ivy League universities or similar institutions elsewhere.

Specialisation is a waste of time so is relevant experience. They don’t teach you skills to make money.

If you have any doubts just review the choices of successive governments to head various regulatory bodies and their marvellous track record in fiscal discipline, energy, water and power, security, civil bureaucracy, aviation, public transport, tax collection, law and order, etc.

It takes extraordinary skills to create petroleum shortage at a time when supply is in abundance and prices are low. While private petroleum companies all over the world were under strict regulatory control, not to delay placing orders for procuring oil, they were free in Pakistan to do as they please.

A.M. Tariq

Lahore

(2)

THIS refers to your editorial ‘Fuelling controversy” (Jan 20). The sudden petrol shortage in Punjab and then in Karachi is likely to cause a severe dent in the popularity of the PML-N government.

The public was already suffering from loadshedding and gas shortage. The crisis indicates the extent of incompetence of Nawaz Sharif’s management team.

Unfortunately, the axe has fallen on four officials, including the PSO managing director even before the investigation was initiated.

The responsibility squarely lies with the ministers for petroleum, for finance and the state minister for power.

More interesting is the fact that contradictory statements are being issued by cabinet members as to the cause of the crisis.

Even more intriguing is that the investigation is being done by the officials who are subservient to the ministers. How can the truth come out of this investigation?

A.M.

Karachi

Published in Dawn February 7th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary in the dock
Updated 22 Feb, 2025

Judiciary in the dock

Recent developments in SC and IHC certainly seem to have lent credibility to perception that judges perceived as a 'threat’ are being sidelined.
Paying taxes
22 Feb, 2025

Paying taxes

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s ‘hard talk’ at a retail business conference on Thursday was long ...
Rules for thee
22 Feb, 2025

Rules for thee

IT was a year ago when, in the tumultuous aftermath of the 2024 elections, the state banned X. Today, it remains...
Ukraine initiative
Updated 21 Feb, 2025

Ukraine initiative

Whether Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative succeeds or not, it will be difficult for Kyiv, Europe to face Russian military machine without US support.
High cost of SOEs
21 Feb, 2025

High cost of SOEs

THERE are losses and then some. The finance ministry’s latest overview of the federally owned state enterprises...
Poor impression
21 Feb, 2025

Poor impression

RECENT developments in the Senate have provided cause for concern on how parliamentary business is being conducted....