ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that foreign investment was welcome but it should be subject to the country’s Constitution and laws.
“We are a sovereign country and welcome investors,” the chief justice observed during the hearing of a set of petitions challenging the possible award of a contract to Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) - a Canadian and Chilean consortium of Barrick Gold and Antofagasta Minerals - for exploring gold and copper in Balochistan’s Reko Diq area.
“I know so many oil exploration companies are working in Pakistan, but none of them ever claimed any relaxation,” the chief justice said.
Khalid Anwar, the counsel for TCC, said the July 1993 joint venture agreement between BHP Minerals and the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) for exploring gold and copper in Reko Diq had been signed after consultation with the Balochistan and federal governments, although there was no legal requirement for that. He added that opinion had also been sought from the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Development on international practices on the quantum of royalty.
The counsel criticised the petitioners and some politicians for questioning the agreement at a time when successful discovery of gold and copper deposits had been made, after having remained quiet for the past 16 years when it was being negotiated.
“We should not be known in the international community as a country which is not reliable for honouring agreements,” Mr Anwar said.
But the court said that agreements should always be made in a transparent manner and terms should not be dictated by investors.
“Ours is a poor terrorism-ridden country that is being kept alive through IMF sustenance and substantial donations by major western countries and without their help even our trade will be jeopardised,” the counsel said.
Citing the fate of Saindak gold and copper exploration project, he said that no foreign investor was interested in coming to Balochistan despite the discovery of precious deposits. The government had to shut the mines at Saindak because it failed to run the project and the country had been without any copper for six years, he said, adding that it was now being run successfully by the Chinese.
The government was not capable of running commercial projects, Mr Anwar said, adding that bureaucrats were not trained to think like businessmen who knew the value of time.
“The first rule of bureaucracy is never to accept responsibility because tomorrow someone may raise finger against them for being bribed. Thus months are wasted in simple decision-making because bureaucrats are incapable of reaching any conclusion,” he said.
Referring to the apex court’s decision on sugar prices, the counsel said it was never implemented in letter and spirit and the prices in the open market never stabilised, adding that the law of economics and demand and supply were not subject to decisions of the apex court.
Mr Anwar also referred to the famous judgment of the Supreme Court striking down the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills and said that although he had accepted the verdict it only overburdened the poor nation with a loss of over Rs100 billion. Had the PSM been timely privatised, the consortium of Saudis and Russians would have put up a modern furnace plant tripling the mills’ production capacity to three to four million tons per annum, the counsel said.
“Now we are incurring losses with an outdated plant that can only produce one million tons (of steel).” He said that Lakshmi Mittal, an Indian steel giant, alone produced over 100 million tons of steel a year through his various plants.
“Don’t burden the sinking people of Pakistan with losses like the one being suffered by PIA,” the counsel said.
The case was adjourned till March 7.