The government is giving important national assets to the foreign companies at throwaway prices, on which every Pakistani is concerned. The government has decided to give Roosevelt Hotel New York, which is the property of the national airlines PIA, on lease for just 220 million dollars where the original price of the hotel is 20 times higher than the buyer company is offering.
In this connection, Minister of Railways and Aviation, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, announced during a press conference that the government would hand over the precious hotel, located at the expensive vicinity of New York to the city administration within one-month time. The 100 years old historical hotel has some 1250 rooms.
He further announced that the country’s three airports including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore would be outsourcing to foreign companies. Islamabad will be the first airport to be outsourced. According to the deal the management of these airports will be handed over to foreign companies for a specific period. The minister further told the media that some 20 companies from the world are outsourcing the airports.
The PDM led government has dragged the economy to the point of no return. Now the government has lack of funds even to pay the salaries and pension to the government employees and now it is mortgaging the airports of the country but this would not only be a permanent threat to national security but also bring a flood of unemployment in the country.
As the foreign management would cut the strength of the workers at each airport. Though the minister is making tall claims that no one would lost his job after outsourcing the airports but as a matter of fact that overstaffing is the main problems in all the state run institutions due to the fact that thousands of appointments were made on the political ground and if the new administration of the airports only carry out right sizing of the staff, then almost 2000 to 6000 workers from all three major airports of the country would also be unemployed.
The economic plight of the country cannot afford more unemployment, which would also result in more chaos in the country as when the employees would be shown the doors, they would definitely come out on the streets to protest.
There is one more imperative factor that the Pakistani people have right that when they travel, they must be provided with the best facilities at the airports of their own country either free of cost or at cheaper rates. But now when the foreign management would take over these airports, the travelers from Pakistan would have to “buy” every minor facility at much higher rates. In other words, the nation would be treated as third rate citizens at their own airports.
The decision of the government is not in the favour of national interest any way because it will dent the security of the country too.