Chinese investor in K-Electric
A LONG journey might be about to end for Abraaj Group, the Dubai-based private equity fund that had made the bold move of acquiring a majority stake and management control in the beleaguered Karachi Electric Supply Company back in 2009. Those were troubled days as everyone remembers, when the first-ever privatisation of a power utility in Pakistan was floundering. Nobody really understood what Abraaj was up to and the move was met with a heavy dose of scepticism at the time. The new management took control at a time when the utility, renamed K-Electric, had been abandoned by its management, rolling blackouts in Karachi were a daily occurrence and a bruising battle with the state-owned power utility Pepco, which supplied almost half of the city’s power, had just seen a massive disconnection that cut off the power supply to the entire city.
Given the circumstances in which the acquisition was made, the positive track record of the Abraaj-led team must be acknowledged. It has restored the utility to profitability and brought load-shedding under control, even if through the morally dubious policy of increasing the incidence of load-shedding in areas that had been designated by it as ‘high loss’. They have weathered some powerful storms along the way, from rains and heatwaves that led to prolonged blackouts, labour unrest and more bruising conflict with government departments that did not pay their bills, to clashes with the Ministry of Water and Power. But to its credit, unlike the management that preceded it, the team did not give up and persevered through it all to reach this point.
Now comes the time for Abraaj to enjoy the fruits of its efforts, and the prize is a substantial one at $1.7bn for divestment of its 66.4pc stake, described by Abraaj as “one of the largest private-sector transactions in Pakistan”. At this time, it is imperative to bear in mind that there is a strong and abiding public interest in this transaction. So even though it is a ‘private transaction’, there is a significant role for public authorities to play. The public interest lies in determining whether the improvement in the utility’s affairs is being evenly experienced by all segments of the city’s population or whether it is a reality only for the elites whose neighbourhoods have seen an uninterrupted supply of power and the bulk of the investment made in system upgrades during the last seven years. It is also in ensuring that the new investor, Shanghai Electric Power, has the capacity to operate in Pakistan, where some amount of transparency and disclosure is the norm. The deal is still subject to approval from the state, and these matters ought to be thoroughly vetted before the Abraaj management is allowed to walk off with its prize.
Attack on majlis
AS the state scrambles to contain the menace of sectarian militancy, the extremists have resorted to using novel methods, and increasingly hitting ‘soft’ targets. Mass-casualty attacks have thankfully been averted this Muharram — thanks largely to the multilayer security cordon around mosques, imambargahs and mourning processions. Perhaps in reaction, terrorists have decided to go low-tech. On Saturday night, suspects on a motorcycle tried to barge into a women’s majlis in Karachi’s Nazimabad area. Unable to enter the house where the event was being held, the gunmen took aim at people gathered outside; at least five people have been confirmed dead in the attack. This was the fourth sectarian attack during Muharram in Karachi. In earlier attacks also, people were shot outside their homes, while an IED was lobbed at a women’s majlis inside an imambargah. Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami, an offshoot of the dreaded sectarian outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, has claimed responsibility for the Nazimabad attack. During the months of Muharram and Safar, countless religious gatherings take place across the country. While the major mosques and imambargahs are relatively easy to protect, securing majalis inside homes — estimated to run into the thousands by police officials — is a very difficult task.
While more intelligence-based operations are needed to bust militant cells seeking to spread terror, a much bigger challenge stares the state in the face if it wishes to end sectarian bloodshed: confronting the ideological forces that provide oxygen to sectarian militancy. For several decades, the state looked the other way as jihadi and sectarian gangs spread their wings and became entrenched in society. Now, uprooting these groups is proving a formidable task. But it is pertinent to ask how hard the state is trying. While notorious sectarian killers have been eliminated in ‘encounters’ and attempts have been made to limit the movement of rabble-rousing preachers, especially during sensitive religious periods, the fact is that overall, sectarian groups in Pakistan still have considerable liberty to operate. For example, last Friday, when the state was unleashing its might against political protesters in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the ASWJ, a banned sectarian outfit, was able to hold a rally in the federal capital unhindered, in defiance of Section 144. Some days earlier, the leader of this outfit had met the interior minister as part of a Difa-i-Pakistan Council delegation. If the state is serious about implementing NAP and eliminating sectarian terrorism from Pakistan, it must confront these glaring contradictions.
Hockey’s fortunes
ONCE more, Pakistan has failed to break the Indian jinx. In losing the Asian Champions Trophy final 3-2 in Kuantan, Malaysia, on Sunday, the team, despite showing good form, failed to overcome the psychological barrier in a high-pressure game against its arch-rival and conceded the match in its final moments of the match. The Pakistanis appeared to be on track when they bounced back from 0-2 at one point to level the score, but the end result was in India’s favour. Even as Pakistan embarked on the tournament some two weeks ago, many commentators had written off the team, its position as defending champions notwithstanding. That the national team managed to avoid embarrassment by reaching the finals had much to do with the performance of the ebullient Haseem Khan who almost single-handedly kept up hopes with a flurry of goals. However, in the final analysis, the Asian tourney could not be termed as Pakistan’s litmus test.
While competitive victories over South Korea and Malaysia deserve praise, beating teams such as China and Japan are no feather in Pakistan’s cap. It needs to play European giants such as Germany and the Netherlands more often, even Australia, to be rated as a force to contend with. But one does not see that happening in the near future since the Pakistan Hockey Federation has quite willingly allowed the game to become politicised while its officials have remained too engaged in ego battles and joyrides to concentrate on the game’s development. The advent of the private hockey league in India a couple of years ago infused new spirit into the game in that country, besides making it commercially viable. For its part, the current PHF regime has envisaged putting together a similar league this year; that raised some hopes of a revival. Unfortunately, the government refused to issue NOCs to the foreign players set to feature in the league and the PHF has since been forced to relegate the idea to the back-burner.
Published in Dawn November 1st, 2016