KARACHI: The land of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) belongs to the people of Sindh and we would never sell it to settle the liabilities of the mill, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Tuesday.

The chief minister was reacting to press reports last week that the federal government has begun negotiations for settling PSM’s liabilities worth Rs100 billion and offered to clear dues of banks and a gas utility company by giving them the land owned by the entity.

He directed Sindh Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon to start a clear and concrete correspondence with the federal government, informing the federal government that the PSM land belongs to the people of Sindh [Sindh government] and “we would never allow anybody to dole it out.”

Recalling that the provincial government had given land to the federal government for establishing a steel mill complex in 1970s, the chief minister said that the federal government, after failing to run the mill professionally, has set its eye on its pricy land. “We would never allow any bank or corporation to take an inch of the land of the mill,” he said.

The provincial government has its own plans to utilise the land to establish new industrial units, power plants and such other establishments, the CM added.

PSM is a national asset with a vast potential to turn it into a profit-making organisation but it needs political will and clear business plan which seems to be lacking with the people at the helm of affairs, Mr Shah said.

He said the seriousness of the federal government to run the mills can be gauged from the fact that it has no CEO from the last one year. “Everything is going on there on ad hoc basis and its policies and plans are being worked out by those who have no official authority,” he added.

He said the liabilities and other problems of the steel mills are the results of Centre’s failed policies.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017