KARACHI: Labour representatives against the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills and dismissal of its employees alleged on Sunday that Amir Mumtaz, chairman of the board of directors of Pakistan Steel Mills, was an American citizen and business partner of a sitting federal minister.

In a joint statement issued here, they demanded that a high-level commission be set up to investigate the causes of the PSM’s collapse, which should also hear allegations of abuse of the mills’ employees.

“Pakistan Steel Mills was pushed towards deficit in a planned manner. The company had a profit of over Rs10 billion in 2007-08 while it had an inventory of about Rs11 billion and Rs12 billion in its account. But due to wrong planning, the company incurred a deficit of Rs26 billion with in spin of one year, 2009.

“This was largely due to the cancellation of international raw material procurement agreements in 2006, which caused irreparable damage to the mills by pretending to purchase locally. However, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the Russian government to get the company back on its feet. The Russian government has reportedly offered $2 billion to run the steel mills, but the reason for not taking it seriously is still unclear.”

The joint statement mentioned that in 2013-4 the then government gave a bailout package of Rs14.5 billion to continue the production process, which resulted in gradual increase in production and at one point it reached 65 per cent of the total production capacity. But for unknown reasons, the blast furnace exploded in late 2014 which severely damaged the production process.

Meanwhile, in June 2015, the Sui Southern Gas Corporation cut off the gas supply for non-payment of Rs17 billion of gas bills and put the production process to a complete standstill. The chairman of the SSGC at that time was Miftah Ismail, who did not even issue a notice against a private company ‘K-Electric’ which had to pay Rs58 billion to the corporation in respect of gas bills. “It’s a matter of fact that the mills management inked an agreement with the gas corporation that mill would pay monthly current bills while arrears would be paid in instalments but supply of gas was abruptly stopped,” the statement read.

“It is also a frightening fact that under a 1985 agreement, the power plant of Steel Mills was supplying electricity to K-Electric at Rs2 per unit which went up to only Rs2.5 per unit till the closure of the mills in 2015.

“It’s very unfortunate that anti-people elements along with the steel mafia & the land mafia also had eyed valuable machinery, conveyer belts from the seaport to the mills, modern jetty, a 100-bed hospital, a 155-megawatt power plant and an oxygen producing plant. The mafia also wants to seize the 850-acre Steel Town and the adjoining 350 acres of vacant precarious land. That is why it is constantly being propagandised that steel mills is not a viable entity , is a white elephant for the national economy, its employees are a burden on the exchequer and employees have been recruited on political grounds.

“However, the fact is that the employees of Pakistan Steel have been demanding for the last five years to start the production process of the steel mills which required only Rs25 billion to Rs30 billion, instead of providing the funds on time to run the mills. The same amount was paid in terms of salaries to the mills’ employee since 2015. It is also a fact that no new recruits have been made in the last 10 years, only those employees who have been serving in the steel mills for 15 to 20years have been made permanent.

“It’s alarming that the group that tried to buy the steel mills in 2006 for only Rs21.61 billion, its operatives are now dominating the steel mills affairs and are planning to destroy the institution which the workers will thwart in any case.

“The workers of the steel mills also submitted their case against illegal dismissals in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and hearing is fixed on May 9 in Islamabad.

“In continuation of the campaign, a protest rally will be held at the Karachi Press Club on May 8 and another peaceful rally will be held on the National Highways near Pakistan Steel Mills at 10am on May 9.

The joint statement also demanded that:

• The illegal and inhumane decision to dismiss the employees of Steel Mills should be withdrawn.

• Stop privatisation of Steel Mills and other public enterprises on the dictates of IMF.

• A high-level commission should be set up to identify the elements that could lead to the demise of a major institution like Steel Mills.

• Provide one-time funding for rehabilitation of Steel Mills with a well-planned road map.

• Meaningful consultation should be initiated with reputed professionals and steel mills employees’ representatives to start the production process of the mills.

• Ensure timely payment of dues and pensions.

• The Sindh government should raise its voice against the privatisation of steel mills with the Council of Common Interest as the Steel Mills land belongs to the Sindh government.

The joint statement was signed, among others, by Nasir Mansoor, Secretary General of the National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan, Akbar Narejo, Convener of the Pakistan Steel Mills Trade Union Alliance and Karamat Ali, Convener of the National Labour Council.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2020