Notwithstanding, inefficiency of the political leadership in the past, the hierarchy ruling the state institutions is more inefficient and incompetent than their masters. Least bothered about the sufferings of the masses in the country, top bureaucrats are continuously making mockery of the state institutions, in fact. For the last five years, the nation is forced to live in dark like Stone Age. The two institutions WAPDA along with its subordinate power generation & distribution companies and the Pakistan State Oil Company are running amok with emotions and sufferings of the people. The unbundling of the WAPDA though now being reversed and the deregulation of oil coupled with bad management in these institutions have played havoc with the power and energy sectors. To camouflage their follies and inabilities, these heads resort to fake hue and cry to derive personal benefits. The power is basic requisite to run the life, but it has never been given the priority it deserves. The bad luck is that none is even prepared to take responsibility of the mess the nation is thrown into. Once again, the PSO chief has warned of a possible complete dry-out in a few weeks owing to the repeated defaults on local and LCs’ payment amounting to Rs 11 billion therefore no bank is ready to open letters of credit to order future oil imports. How can a bank cut off its business relations with a state-owned organization that claims to have receivables to the tune of Rs 141 billion apart from the cash inflow it carries? Yes! The company may have some financial crunch but not a bankruptcy as the PSO is making claims, and if at all, such is the sorry tale, the top manager, failing to keep the institution alive, must resign forth with. Now he stands no chance to retrieve the company from the situation he led into. The storage capacity of the PSO is limited, and unfortunately none of the foreign oil companies have raised it as per the agreements signed prior to making investment in Pakistan. Yet these companies are making massive profits unaccounted for. The PSO owes the outstanding payments of around Rs 104 billion to fuel suppliers against the receivables of Rs 141 billion. In purely business terms the imminent default, as claimed, is out of question. The fact of matter is; the PSO, under the influence of foreign oil companies, wants to fetch some quick payments, threatening a complete dry-out next month. The situation, as of today, suggests that the default is already in place. The PSO should do the business like business men do rather than triggering a panic amongst the masses. It is not matter of non-payment that has led the country or the PSO on the verge of collapse. Pakistan needs to revisit the policies governing the oil, gas and power sector; for which let the new representatives take over the reign of the state in mid May. As the present managers cannot do wonders, for sure.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/46/