Sindh Provincial Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Saturday said that the federal government wanted to hand over the Pakistan Steel Mill to their close aides.
Addressing a press conference along with the steel mill trade union leaders at Karachi Press Club, Nasir Shah said that the Pakistan steel mill was a national asset and the Sindh government would not let it be ruined. The provincial minister said that the Sindh government was standing with the workers from day one and will continue to fight for protection of their rights.
He said that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has directed Sindh government to protect the rights of steel mill workers at all costs, following which Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has written letter to the federal government on the steel mill issue and also raised the issue in the Council of Common Interests, but added that no positive response has been received from the federal government yet.
The local government minister said that Sindh Chief Minister also has constituted a sub-committee of Sindh Cabinet on the issue of Steel Mill comprising Labor Minister Saeed Ghani, Industries Minister Jam Ikram ullah Dharijo, Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab and Special Assistant Waqar Mehdi. The committee has held three meetings with steel mill workers trade union leaders to devise a comprehensive strategy to resist the federal government’s move.
Nasir Shah expressed that Sindh government wanted to take control of the mill and run it with partnership of steel mill workers on the line of Thar coal project which was being run successfully under public private Partnership.
However, dispelling the impression that the mill was ruined during the PPP era, the local government minister said that the steel mill was operational during the PPP era, but it was closed in 2015 when the then federal government decided to cut off gas connection of the mill.
Defending the PPP government, the minister said that no new appointments were made during the PPP era, and only temporary employees’ services were made permanent.
He recalled that President Asif Ali Zardari had signed MoU with Russia to revive and expand the steel mill, which could not be implemented since PPP government’s term ended and successive government showed no interest in materializing the MoU on steel mill, as they were interested in giving it to their blue eyed person.
The provincial minister added that Sindh chief minister discussed the revival of steel mill with a Russian delegation who met him at the chief minister house, and added that “if federal government wanted to run the steel mills, we are ready to fully support them on condition that the workers’ rights be protected,” .
He lamented that those national assets worth billions of rupees are being stolen from the steel mill, and questioned how can this be possible in such a tight security? “When workers protest against oppression, the security resort to violence against workers, but failed to stop the theft.” The minister revealed that he has directed IG Sindh to depute a competent police officer to investigate the matter and register FIR against those involved, and been ordered to set up a police picket to protect the assets of steel mills .
