Hassan Jawwad
KARACHI - Pakistan Steel Mills management is continuously demanding for a relief package but seen fail to retract the mills. The employees of PSM still not draw the salary of single month during this calendar year while no sale witnessed of finish products during last five months.
PSM hanging position continues as about 4 months’ salary piled along with other dues, on the other side the finished products from last 5 months in PSM stores still waiting to be sold.
No salary of current calendar year has been disbursed yet, resulting thousands of employees in a stage of panic, mental torture with hardship in running their domestic matters. PSM submitted its request for Jan-Mar 2015 salary to the ECC but still ECC not finalised the matter, as the previous Rs18.5 billion and another Rs1.5 billion recently were also drowned and no targets achieved as proposed in the PSM business plan.
PSM is also facing a dire challenge of its ready products which are being lying in the store. Amount of Rs 3 billion was estimated of these products which are not suitable for the market due to lacking and inefficiency of PSM Commercial Department. As Forensic Audit recommendations for the investigation of PSM losses were not followed accordingly, which continues the legacy of huge losses. Forensic Audit report clearly mentioned that in order to curb corruption and mismanagement the key posts were handed over to suitable and relevant experienced persons but unfortunately PSM commercial department has been handed over to simple graduate officer who have no previous experience in the relevant field, as mentioned in his personal profile available on the Pakistan steel official website.
No investigation or charge was imposed on the responsible of this mishap as PSM claimed in their business plan to achieve such targets of production and sales. Sources told that PSM again using previous tactics to sold its products to selected steel dealers by decreasing its price causing heavy losses to the national exchequer.
Production activity shows the figure of an average of about 25pc in this month, as one blast furnace was shut down due to accident and the only available Universal machine for handling raw material from Jetty was also damaged and became out of order from about one month. PSM has to achieve the target of 77pc production in January 2015 against the bailout package of Rs 18.5 billion, but now after mid of April PSM still on 25pc production. No doubt that PSM incumbent CEO increased the production activity from 5pc to 25pc in his 12 months period but unfortunately the Chief Executive Officer failed to deliver the PSM as per his assured targets to the ECC which is 77pc production in January.
The CEO again requested the ECC to increase the target time till April, but here again relying on a fake business plan submitted in the ECC and other corrupt practices Pakistan Steel current Chief Executive Officer while completing his first year from April 2014- April 2015 failed to deliver PSM as needed. The salary issue becoming hot day by day among the employees and the future of the national asset becoming a question mark as the govt has already poured about Rs20 billion to solve the matters of PSM.