KARACHI: Revival of the Pakistan Steel Mills would surely help in boosting our economy but the provincial government of Sindh and the Centre are not interested in it, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday.
He said in a statement that recently Iran has expressed willingness to revive the PSM and previously Russia and China had also shown keen interest in this regard but our own rulers want to sell precious lands of the PSM to real estate tycoons against hefty commissions and kickbacks. He said worldwide steel making is a very profitable sector and even the PSM was a profitable entity before a corrupt political government deliberately ruined it through excessive recruitments. He said the same government had also doomed the PIA through excessive recruitments; however, no action was taken to these mega corrupt politicians who still enjoy high offices in Pakistan.
He said there are rumors that a special export industrial zone would be established on the land of the PSM. Others say that a technology park would be established there. Yet others say that this land has been allocated to a private steel mill belonging to some Middle East tycoons. He said this land belongs to the people of Pakistan and Sindh and it must be saved from real estate tycoons and mega corrupt politicians and their parties.
Altaf Shakoor said that the PSM should be revived and rerun with help of Iran, or China or Russia as Pakistan needs steel for its different sectors. He said that the SIFC should ensure that this precious land is only used for genuine industrial purposes and not given to the real estate mafia. He said revival of the PSM would boost the local economy by providing quality steel at reasonable prices.
He demanded from the Prime Minister, Sindh chief minister and the chief of army staff to ensure that the real estate mafia doesn’t get the land of the PSM and this deliberately ruined national project should be again revived in the larger interests of the country and nation. He said the corrupt elements behind the doom of the PSM should be punished severely as per law and constitution.
