ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar on Friday attempted to mislead the National Assembly on the amount of losses incurred by the state-run PIA, saying the national carrier suffered losses worth Rs 10.9 million in the first nine months of the current year, while PIA’s third financial quarter report said the losses for the period were to the tune of Rs 11.7 billion.
The Pakistan International Airline report, uploaded on its website, contradicts the minister’s claim, as it says that “the corporation’s after tax losses increased by Rs 0.92 billion to Rs 11.7 billion during the nine months ending on September 2010, compared to Rs 10.8 billion during the same period last year”.
In a written reply to a question asked by MNA Sheikh Salahuddin, the defence minister said the PIA management was introducing a culture of ethics and compliance, aggressive revenue growth through efficient marketing plans and implementation of stringent cost control measures. “The PIA management is looking forward to rightsizing its human resource related to non-core functions of the organisation.
The human resource rationalisation plan will lead to cost reduction of approximately Rs 3.8 million over a period of five years. Recently, position of 13 directors and 40 general managers were reduced to 10 and 32 respectively,” Mukhtar informed the House, adding that the management was taking steps to control the losses by adopting a policy to control fuel costs.
Meanwhile, Minister for Shipping Babar Khan Ghauri said a mega project, Pakistan Deep Sea Container Port, had been launched in Karachi to enable the Karachi Port Trust to handle and cater to mega ships. He also dispelled the impression that the project would affect operations at the Gwadar Port.
Figures don’t tally – Mukhtar misleads NA on PIA losses
