There is an old saying, “where there is a will, there is a way”. It is no rocket science to conclude that an incompetent and corrupt man, if appointed to head a state corporation, will end up with losses for the organisation which will be driven to bankruptcy, as has been the fate of Pakistan Steel Mills, PIA, NICL etc. It was the moral and constitutional obligation of this elected government to ensure that they appointed competent and qualified men to run these organisations professionally, instead they were handed over to street smart cronies with a history of controversies.
PIA which had losses of Rs42 billion when Aijaz Haroon took over ended up with losses of over Rs100 billion by the time he was forced to leave office by the employees who stood like a rock to save their organisation. The employees of PIA were convinced that the MD was bent upon selling all lucrative routes in an underhand deal, followed by selling of Boeing 777 fleet which would be rendered unutilised and then buy more aircrafts. None of this was meant to be of any benefit to PIA commercially.
PIA which was already in surplus was further burdened by hiring over 4,000 more employees. This over staffed organisation could have swallowed this bitter pill if only those hired were recruited in accordance with rules and met the merit scales. Pakistan Steel Mills which was profitable when this government took over is today bankrupt. NICL has been systematically ruined and so has been the unfortunate fate of Pakistan Railways, PEPCO, TCP, KPT, FBR, NHA, PASSCO etc.
Why cant this government run these state owned corporations owned by tax-payers in the same manner in which they have been running their own industrial empires profitably?
GULL ZAMAN
Peshawar
