ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: Eight members of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) have submitted an adjournment motion in the National Assembly Secretariat seeking a debate on the reports that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet had favoured setting up a fertilizer plant at Sadiqabad without taking into account recommendations of the Ministry of Industries.

In their motion, moved under Rule 92 of the Rules of Business and Procedures for Conduct of National Assembly 1992, the opposition members state that according to press reports the company is a joint venture of Fatima Group and Arif Habib Group, the latter being involved in the Pakistan Steel Mills privatization scandal.

“The ministry had said that since the company had failed to set up the urea and phosphatic fertilizer project within the stipulated time given by the ECC in August 2004, the allocation of 75 mmcfd of feed gas from Mari gas field should be revoked and be allocated to the already qualified bidders. The ministry had also proposed that in case of extension in the completion period to August 31, 2008, the government should impose penalties as per laid down conditionalities,” the movers state.

They further state: “The clause proposed by the ministry was that Fatima Fertilizer must achieve financial close within 60 days. But the ECC went beyond the recommendation and granted three months for bank guarantee and financial close, knowing that the project could not materialise within the time already agreed to by the company.” Moreover, the motion says, “The ministry had said the company must sign an agreement with the government to abide by these terms, specifically agreeing that failure to achieve financial close within two months would automatically lead to cancellation of gas allocation. The ministry’s on-site inspection team had reported that there was no substantial work on the project and even the second-hand machinery lying at the site was in the process of being sand-blasted.” The ministry had apprised the ECC that even after 13 months of signing the agreement (GSA), Fatima Fertilizer was unable to achieve financial close.

The deadline set by the ECC for this unit to come into production was August 23, 2006, which could not be met. Delay in production of urea by Fatima Group would cost the national exchequer an estimated Rs3bn per annum.

This shocking exhibition of favours done to the Arif Habib Group against the specific advice of the ministry adds a new and critical dimension to the charges levelled against the government for protecting certain companies during the stock market crash, as well as the well-documented grant of the Steel Mills, now under challenge by the order of the Supreme Court as an example of irregular transaction, they said. “This kind of favouritism that costs the country a financial loss of Rs3 billion per annum constitutes a grave concern for public interest which is unable to hold this regime accountable to anything.”

The motion has been signed by Sherry Rehman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Qamaruz Zaman Kaira, Naveed Qamar, Pervez Malik, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nayyar Bukhari and Ghulam Murtaza Satti.