Government under fire in Senate for mortgaging Jinnah International Airport

The government came under fire in the Senate on Thursday for mortgaging Jinnah International Airport and other key state enterprises, saying what would happen if timely payments are not made against those mortgages. However, Law and Justice Minister Zahid Hamid, replying to questions on behalf of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, laughed off the matter, saying it is not happening for the first time as it has been done for quite long.
"The domestic Sukuk with regards to the airport were issued in 2010-11 and we all know who was in power at that time," he said in an obvious reference to the then Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government, after Senator Sherry Rehman's expressed concern over the arrangement. Hamid asserted that there is nothing to be worried about as it would neither push the country towards default nor anyone get the possession of the airport which is a state-owned property.
This prompted Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak of PTI to point out that after defaulting on loan, the Sri Lankan Matala Airport had been taken over by China and that there were two other such examples, involving Nicaragua and a Caribbean country. He wondered why without going into sustainability of projects, the government was obtaining loans from China.
Mohsin Aziz of PTI and MQM's Tahir Hussain Mashhadi also wanted to know how many other such assets had been mortgaged and what would happen if the government fails to pay back amounts with interests. MQM-P's Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh had asked in writing the number of times for which the Jinnah International Airport was mortgaged for the exchange of Sukuk bonds so far and the total value of bonds and the loans paid back against those mortgages in each case.
In the written reply, Dar had said the airport had twice been used for issuance of domestic Sukuk. First time in 2010-11, it was utilized for issuance of four-tranche domestic Sukuk and a total of Rs 182.3 billion were raised for three years term. Senator Ateeq asked exactly for what project the airport had been mortgaged, the minister explained that the move was for balance of payment.
To a question by JUI-F Senator Muhammad Talha Mehmood, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal said that due attention is being paid to development of Gwadar, including two desalination plants and electricity projects.
However, the senators belonging to Balochistan, PkMAP's Usman Kakar, PTI's Azam Swati and Senator Khattak did not agree with what the minister said. Senators Khattak and Kakar insisted that as a part of CPEC committee delegation, which had visited Gwadar, they found the installed desalination plant dysfunctional just because of the intake pipe was dislocated. PPP Senator Taj Haider, who had also visited Gwadar, said there was nothing wrong with the design of the plant, differing with the statement made by the minister in this connection. "We hade offered to make the plan functional within hours," he claimed.
The minister had said that through tendering, it was estimated the cost of fixing the plant would be Rs 1 billion. However, Senator Khattak claimed it would cost hardly anything. Senator Kakar said they found the locals there being subjected to body search before being allowed to enter a government hospital. Earlier, Senator Kakar questioned the government's commitment in undertaking development projects in Gwadar and said that people pay Rs 15,000 for a water tanker to meet their domestic need. The minister conceded that Balochistan government is spending a hefty amount to transport water to Gwadar. Senators questioned if any probe has been held and anyone is fixed for embezzlement of Rs 10 billion the federal government had given to the provincial government for water projects in Quetta. Ahsan Iqbal said probe is underway and clarified the funds had been given before the PML-N government was formed.
The matter relating to Gwadar and Quetta was referred to the House committee concerned by Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, who was chairing the question hour.
On seeing the agitation by Senators Kulsoom Parveen, Kakar and Talha Mehmood on the federal government's allegedly ignoring or paying not much attention to the projects for Balochistan under CPEC, Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq proposed to Kakar, who heads the house committee on less-developed areas, to take up this matter in its meeting and that he would also attend the meeting. Replying to another question by PPP Senator Ahmad Hassan, Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi said that Pakistan Steel Mills is facing severe financial crunch from 2008-09 and as a result of it, it is unable to pay the provident fund dues from June 2015 and gratuity dues from May 2013 to its retired employees. He explained, "The total amount payable to ex-employees is Rs 9,739,978 million." He added as the mills had not paid contribution to Provident Fund Trust and Gratuity Fund Trust since 2008-09, the accumulated payable amount to the respective trusts is Rs 25,245 million and Rs 18,836 million.