PSMC shareholders question debt settlement deal with SSGC against land
The Pakistan Steel Mills Shareholders Group has raised a question over the debt liability settlement deal between Steel Mills and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) against the land by the existing board of directors and management.
It has approached the ministry of industries and production to follow the revival plan of Pakistan Steel Mills and reconstitute the board of directors.
It had also called for the appointment of a new managing director of Pakistan Steel Mills to put the house in order.
In a letter sent to the secretary ministry of Industries and Production, PSMC Stakeholders Group said that it had learned that the Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) non-professional Board of Directors (BOD) was allegedly involved in administrative and financial irregularities.
They said that it would approve the settlement of SSGC payable bills against land in a meeting scheduled on September 26, 2022, to remove the hurdle in the non-transparent privatization process initiated in 2018-19 and the status quo was maintained without investigation.
Factors leading to losses by the current government would further complicate resolving the issue pending in the courts of law, whose responsibility it is to monitor the performance of PSMC BOD, it said.
The Shareholders Group further said that profit-earning PSMC was deliberately destroyed by the Ministry of Industries & Production (MOI&P)/government-appointed nonprofessionals (men of choice) not knowing the functions of the integrated steel plant and never monitoring their performance, which negatively costs the economy and public exchequer.
We understand that subordinate officials of PSMC and MOI&P have misled the new Chief Executive Officer, new Secretary, and new Minister to cover up their blunders committed to benefiting the private sector at the cost of PSMC and taxpayers without any fear of accountability, they said.
PSMC Stakeholders Group believes that PSMC has the potential to be revived with locally trained human resources and funding to activate its paralyzed muscles without privatization, subject to the government playing its responsible role in the reconstitution of the board of directors.
It further demanded to appoint professional management and resumption of PSMC land from NIP and others illegally occupied/grabbed.
They said that reconciliation of PSMC accounts with all the creditors/debtors for authentication of financial data is required to settle the payable debts and liabilities.
It also demanded to review iron & Steel import tariff rationalization and all the concessions granted through DTRE, FATA/PATA policies formulated to benefit the selected few companies and beneficiaries and their facilitators remained unaccountable as yet.
They have also called for investigation for fixation of responsibilities and initiation of accountability for financial recoveries from persons at fault.
PSMC’s revival by reconstituting BOD and appointment of professional management would be easy compared with the nontransparent privatization process from 2005 to 2022, negatively costing the country’s economy and public exchequer.
In this regard, the PSMC Stakeholders Group would be available to MOI&P/government for any clarification required in deciding the future of PSMC’s in-country economy.
It is in the public interest to facilitate the provision of iron and steel materials at competitive prices to counter the private sector monopoly. It would also help in resolving all the employees’ pending issues and provide jobs to technical human resources.
PSMC Stakeholders Group, proposed revival plan would help in the settlement of payable debt liabilities without selling the PSMC land for debt liabilities stated in letters addressed to PSMC and MOIP in 2017.
In this regard, the PSMC Stakeholders Group proposal submitted to PSMC in 2019 and to MOI&P in June 2020 remained unnoticed. Above all, issues that can be resolved in a tripartite (Federal government, government of Sindh, and Stakeholders Group) meeting would save time & money, they said.
