ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the shutdown and collapse of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).

In a letter written to NAB Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal, PTI’s MNA Asad Umar requested him to initiate a probe into the gradual decline of the PSM and take action against those who were responsible for the failure of the massive industrial project and a huge loss to the country.

He urged NAB to also investigate why the PML-N government severed gas connections to the PSM two years ago when the condition of the organisation was improving.

The letter said that PSM had played a vital role in the industrial development of the country, but in June 2015, the gas supply was cut off which led to the closure of all operations of the PSM and its shutdown.

“According to the information provided to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Industries and Production, the PSM was incurring a loss of approximately Rs1.4 billion each month, resulting in the loss of precious foreign exchange being spent on the import of steel in the country, both in private and public sectors,” the PTI lawmaker said.

He said salaries were being paid to employees after a delay of several months and retirement benefits were overdue in a majority of cases for several years.

“The situation has become so bad that people are committing suicide,” Mr Umar lamented.

He said that despite all this, the apathy of the government was obvious in complete dereliction of its duty as no decision was taken to resolve the matter and the massive losses were allowed to continue unabated.

The PTI lawmaker said that the National Assembly’s committee had taken up the matter several times, but in each meeting the government came up with a lame excuse that “it is looking into several options for the revival of the PSM”.

“The standing committee in its meeting held on July 13 decided to send a reference to NAB to investigate the matter,” the PTI leader said.

In the letter, NAB has been asked to probe why the gas supply of PSM was disconnected and no investigation was initiated by the government, though both organisations — the PSM and Sui Southern Gas Company — were controlled by the government through the Ministry of Industries and Production and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.

The PTI leader also asked why the PSM was allowed by the government to continue its downward slide for more than two years without any decision being taken by the government for corrective measures.

Mr Umar also requested NAB to ascertain who were responsible for the downfall of the PSM which was about to take off and getting out of the crisis in 2015, but suddenly it suffered a setback when its gas supply was cut off.

“Is the shutdown of the PSM and its continuing closure the result of a deliberate attempt of some vested interests who gain commercially because of the shutdown of the mills?” the letter asked.

The PTI leader also asked what total loss was caused to the national economy as a result of the government’s negligence towards the PSM.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2017