MNCs and Sindh’s dilemma

ISLAMABAD: Sindh has an abundance of natural resources but unfortunately, its native inhabitants are still not out of the doldrums of abject poverty. The multinational oil and gas companies operating in the province are minting billions of dollars per day from the natural and mineral wealth of Sindh but have done nothing for the welfare and development of its people. Instead, several of these multinational companies (MNCs) have caused ecological and environmental problems in the province.

The MNCs have provided all kinds of comforts to their employees that they have brought in from other parts of the country. However, one can’t find a single Sindhi at a key position within these MNCs in either administration, technical, audit or community development departments. When the MNCs are approached to do something for the welfare of the community they are operating in, their response is usually in the negative. This unfair attitude on their part has increased a sense of deprivation and resentment among the locals. Morality, ethics, equity, social justice and above all, peace and harmony demand that these multinational and national oil and gas companies revisit their discriminatory policies and reset them so as to as defuse the mounting resentment against them.

Hashim Abro

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2012.