Cabinet forms committee to fast-track outsourcing of airports

ISLAMABAD, May 19 (APP):The Federal Cabinet after a thorough discussion on Tuesday constituted a committee to prepare a legal framework by June 30 to outsource the country’s major airports to bring them at par with the international standards.

Briefing the media persons about the decisions of cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said the government was looking for some international firm that had an experience to operate and manage the airports.

The objective of the move was to bring Pakistan’s airports up to the international standards with the provision of all those facilities that were available at the major airports of the developed countries, he added.

Shibli Faraz said the cabinet meeting was informed that some firms had already shown interest in the matter. A legal framework would be devised before the start of tendering process starts. The committee headed by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and comprising Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari, Adviser to the PM on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan, Adviser to the PM on Commerce, Trade and Industry Abdul Razzak Dawood and the Board of Investment (BoI) chairperson as members, would fast-track the process.
The minister said the cabinet discussed the issue of provincial water share and decided to install the latest telemetry system to ensure transparency in the water distribution. He said in the past some vested interests had been creating hurdles in the installation of telemetry system.
The cabinet, he said, noted that the performance of the members of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) from Sindh, Punjab and the Federal Capital was not up to the mark, and decided to hold an inquiry against them and if found guilty, they would be replaced with efficient and honest persons who would ensure running of the telemetry system in a transparent manner.
He said he cabinet approved the decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting of May 13 allowing mobile phone manufacturing in the country and 50 percent federal subsidy on the wheat procurement for Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
He said Pakistan’s economy depended on the agriculture. The PM attached special attention to the agriculture sector as it could boost the national economy after the coronavirus crisis. The cabinet gave approval to a special package for the agriculture sector.
He said Rs 37 billion subsidy was being given on the fertilizers, while Rs 8.8 billion was allocated to reduce the interest rate , Rs 2.30 billion for cotton seed and Rs 6 billion for cotton pesticides, and Rs 2.5 billion for locally manufactured tractors.
Shibli Faraz said the prime minister had directed to clear all the outstanding dues of media houses before Eidul Fitr. The PM was briefed about the outstanding dues of various media houses pertaining to different ministries. All the ministries were instructed to clear their dues so that the media houses could pay salaries and outstanding dues of the media workers before Eid.
He said 27 ministries submitted reports regarding illegal recruitments in the government departments. Some 638 illegally appointed persons were working in different government departments.
The prime minister, he said, expressed his strong displeasure over the laxity of the ministries, which had still not submitted their data of illegal appointments a,d gave them a week time to do the needful. Action was being taken against the illegal recruitments, which were made from August 2016 onwards, the minister added.
Shibli Faraz blasted Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif for demanding fresh elections at a time when the nation was fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Shehbaz Sharif and his family were facing serious allegations of corruption, kickbacks and money laundering. Instead of replying to the allegations, he started harping the mantra of new elections.
The Sharif family, he said, did not like to be in opposition, rather they wanted to loot and plunder the national wealth while being in power. The elections won by them were fair while the one in which they lost were bogus for them.
The people of Pakistan, he said, had rejected the corrupt elements in the general election 2018 and they could no more befooled by such slogans. Shehbaz Sharif wanted to divert the people’s attention from the serious allegations of corruption against him by such raising such slogans, he added.

Shibli Faraz said Shehbaz Sharif was suffering from moral degradation as instead of answering to the questions raised by Shahzad Akbar in his news conferences about his corrupt practices, he demanded holding of fresh elections at the time when Pakistan was facing a critical situation.
Replying to questions, he said time had proved that the prime minister’s strategy and that of the government was transparent and in accordance with the country’s situation in the wake of coronavirus.
Some Sindh ministers, however, were doing politics despite being part of the decisions on the coronavirus strategy made at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), he added.
He maintained that the decisions taken by the state institutions should be appreciated and that was why he had welcomed the Supreme Court’s judgment in the suo moto case regarding the shopping malls and markets.
The Federal Government, he said, appreciated the apex court order as smart lockdown instead of the complete one was its policy from the day one. The decisions were made at the NCOC in a very good manner through a consistent process, he contended.

He explained that the deliberations in the NCOC meetings were recorded in the shape of minutes and Bilawal Bhutto should go through them to know that on which matters the decisions were made. The NCOC decisions were being made controversial by some provincial ministers of Sindh.
The minister said he had summoned a meeting of stakeholders tomorrow on the 25 per cent advertisements quota of regional newspapers and the policy on journalists plots in the the housing scheme. The meeting would try to thrash out a mechanism to ensure that the deserving journalists were not deprived of their right, he added.
About the job security of employees working at airports in case of their outsourcing, he said the government, which was voted to power by the masses, would like to ensure that no one was deprived of his job. More job opportunities could be created after outsourcing of the airports, he added.
About the inquiry commission’s forensic reports on wheat and sugar crisis, he said that he was 90 per cent sure that the reports would be presented before Eid and in that connection, a special cabinet meeting could be summoned as well.
He made it clear that the government was serious on the issue of accountability for which it was given the mandate by the people.
He asserted there was no comparison between Shehbaz Sharif and ex-health minister, and Federal Minister on Planning and Development Asad Umar and Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood, as the leader of opposition was involved in massive corruption scams and trying to run away from the accountability process on one pretext or on the other.
To a question, he confirmed that placing the name of Shehbaz Sharif on the Exit Control List was under consideration for his ‘corrupt practices’ but was not discussed in the cabinet meeting. There was a difference between the Sharifs and the common man, as they only stayed in the country when they were in power, otherwise, they enjoyed their life abroad, he added.
To another question, he said the prime minister during his address to the World Economic Forum would be pushing for the international community’s support to the under-developed and
developing countries in coping with the situation in the backdrop of the coronavirus, which had caused massive loss to their economies.
The PM would, he said, call for boost in the exports to deal with the economic challenges vis-à-vis the virus. He had already advocated relief in loans to the developed countries when the G-20 meeting was being held, the minister added.
Shibli Faraz said the prime minister talked about the payment of outstanding dues to the media industry before Eid though it was not on the agenda. He said the advertisement agencies should give 85 share of proceeds of government advertisements to the newspapers or otherwise action would be taken against them, he added.
He said a mechanism was being worked out to ensure that the growers got the relief from the package and the middlemen would not be allowed to exploit them.
The minister said at the outset of the meeting, the prime minister asked about the list of the appointments made in different government ministries and departments in disregard to the rules and regulations. The facts and data being compiled by the government would be shared with the media and action taken against those illegally appointed and those who were instrumental in their induction, he added.