Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board and National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, as well as former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain has said that national airlines, railways, and provincial transport companies are in a loss in a country with a population of 240 million which is not believable. Talking to business community on Wednesday, he said that among the failed state-owned companies in the country, not one notable company's downfall was due to its employees, as the masses were made to believe. The destruction of state-run companies’, Mian Zahid Hussain said results from policies aimed at grabbing their assets and land, rewarding business people who fund political parties, and looting under the guise of foreign investment. The purpose of the companies that have employed more than required employees or neglected the eligibility criteria was also to get political benefits from these companies while increasing their financial burden, he added. The business leader said that PIA was older and more famous than many good airlines and had profitable routes. This company has also become a burden on the national exchequer due to over-staffing, incompetence, corruption, and nepotism, and now it is time to privatize it.

Presently, there is no alternative to the sale of these companies as they have been damaged beyond repair, he underlined. Mian Zahid said that the story of Steel Mills was not different as many influential people were ready to plunder its resources. He said that from the beginning, such a system of checks and balances was not allowed to be created in Pakistan, which could prevent politicians and other influential circles from colluding and bargaining for national interests. That was why the government should focus on making policies instead of doing business because doing business was not the business of the government, he observed. The government officials dealing with IPPs were incompetent in business affairs; they misused power and made the country vulnerable to losses. Mian Zahid Hussain said that in the current situation, IPPs were the most obvious example, which has not been adequately monitored, and the cost of electricity has been increased because of capacity charges so much that it was beyond the reach of the commoner and the industry. Traders were also in trouble because Pakistan has become the most expensive electricity-generating country in the region and in the world, which ruined the country's economy and squeezed the last drop of blood from the veins of the poor people.

He said if the loans of IPPs were considered national debt and their interest was distributed to the country's total population, it would have been a burden of a few hundred rupees per person per month. Still, due to ignorance of business matters, the government officials used the same interest as the total amount of electricity. Now, capacity charges have jumped to Rs 20 per unit, making it impossible for people to pay their electricity bills, and Pakistan's trade, industry, employment, and exports have all been affected. The economy was at stake; therefore, the FPCCI has to raise this matter in the Supreme Court. He said that the people expect relief from the same elements who have imposed this punishment on the nation, which was surprising. Mian Zahid Hussain further said that due to the policymakers' wrong priorities, the importance of energy security has increased more than food security and water security. If encouraging statements were issued instead of normalizing the situation, the peace and integrity of the country may be at stake, he warned.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan