Mango flights

PIA still in trouble though

Multan’s new international airport is a welcome development on a number of levels. Now, ‘mango flights’ will not only take our prized fruit (and vegetable) produce directly to the international market, but also introduce ‘reverse movement’, whereby buy-side interest, and expertise, is more easily leveraged. Hopefully other issues, like packaging, etc, which compromise much of the natural produce during transportation, will also finally be addressed. This is also a good example of continuation of policies. The prime minister did the right thing by inviting, and acknowledging, Yousaf Raza Gilani, during whose premiership this project took off.

Yet the attention given to the airport must also be extended to the national flag carrier. The prime minister knows better than most people how deep PIA’s problems are, since he is ultimately responsible for public sector enterprises (PSE) during his watch. Sadly, despite the N-league’s typical all-will-be-well rhetoric, no practical steps have so far been taken to address the airline’s chronic losses. And what little has been done still reeks of corruption. The surprise creation of the Director Vigilance post late last year, for example, and appointing a serving capital city SSP at approximately Rs3m salary. Do that to an organisation that loses around Rs2m a month, and the result is pretty obvious.

Sadly, such handling is not restricted to PIA. The present government – like numerous democratic administrations before it – has, as if deliberately, run PSEs into the ground. And even though the result is apparent for all to see, those at the top simply refuse to correct their ways. There is no plan to throw out political appointees or check corruption. The privatisation policy, too, remains caught in uncertainty and ambiguity. Therefore, while the airport is a welcome development, there is a need to urgently undertake reforms in the entire aviation industry. It is important for Pakistan’s image as well as its financial well-being.