No one is saying that the private sector or foreign investors should not be involved.
KARACHI: This is with reference to the article by Farooq Tirmizi titled “The truth about Reko Diq”, published in your newspaper on January 27.
Dr Samar Mubarakmand has been heading a team of experts who have 30 years of mining experience. They have proved their expertise and today, Pakistan is not dependent on imported uranium like India. They must have used state-of-the-art equipment to mine for precious and strategic metal used in Pakistan’s atomic programme and arsenal. We should have trust in them and believe in their assessment of our capacity to process precious and rare earth metals.
No one is saying that the private sector or foreign investors should not be involved. However, there is the issue of having in place an appropriate regulatory framework and effective implementation of this framework so as to achieve transparency and good governance.
As for the issue of involving reputed multinationals, I have worked for 20 years with blue-chip multinational companies in Pakistan and abroad and have a fair idea of how many of them cheat the underdeveloped countries. I have been witness to attitudes in some MNCs where senior executives have felt that state regulators have no right to exercise regulatory oversight — this happens often in situations where a multinational is operating in an underdeveloped country.
While we should encourage the private sector and foreign investment in mining, we should exercise our right to seek information, foster competition, transparency and regulate such involvement. Private and foreign investment in the country is also necessary for growth and employment. However, we must have trust and confidence in ourselves to negotiate terms that are to our advantage. We should not throw away our rights just to seek foreign investment and foreign exchange.
In the overall scheme of things, I would applaud the role of both the media and the judiciary, since both are compelling the government to be more transparent. That will lead to good governance.
Muhammed Saleem Rehmani
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2011.
