KARACHI: Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani has accused the PTI-led federal government of wanting to take over Pakistan Steel Mills’ (PSM) land, saying that Centre would hand over its land to one of their ATMs.
“The reason behind shutting down Pakistan Steel Mills was not a fiscal loss, but the value of the land it was built on. Some people wanted to usurp it,” he said, while addressing a press conference in Karachi today (Thursday).
The labour minister said, “An incapable, selected cabinet cannot make decisions regarding steel mills and its employees,” vowing that the provincial government will stand by the PSM employees who were recently axed.
Saeed Ghani further said that the land on which PSM was built belonged to the Sindh government, which can retrieve it any time it wanted to. “Centre had done nothing to revive the steel mills and had now resorted to firing people,” he claimed.
“The PTI government’s arguments regarding PSM being in loss were all drama,” he said, adding that the PPP government can run the steel mills and make it profitable as well.
He also refuted the claims by government ministers that the PSM went into loss when the PPP came to power. “At that time, the world was facing an economic recession which had affected the steel sector as well,” he asserted.
When PML-N came to power, he said, the economic situation had improved and PSM was at breakeven. “However, it came to a halt when its gas supply was discontinued leading to a loss,” Ghani insisted.
Earlier, the federal government fired 4,544 employees after a decision to let go all employees of the company. The move was condemned by PPP Chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who termed the Centre’s move heartless and vowed that his party would return each and everyone back to work.
