PSO managing director may be removed

He is accused of ignoring directives from presidency, PM secretariat.

ISLAMABAD:


Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Managing Director Naeem Yahya Mir may lose his job because of accusations of poor performance and ignoring directives of the presidency and prime minister’s secretariat, sources say.


At present, Mir is on a six-month probation – may be the first managing director given such a long probation period. He may be removed before the end of this period because of alleged poor performance, say sources.

Sources said Mir was facing resistance from different lobbies. “Among these were parliamentarians whose requests for different types of work were not being entertained,” a senior petroleum ministry official said, adding the MD was also ignoring directives from the presidency and PM secretariat. “The MD has also not given enough time to the company as he has spent most of the time on foreign trips since he took charge in the last week of January this year,” he said.

Deputy Managing Director Jehangir Shah had been holding the acting charge, with a possibility that he may be given the same slot if the MD was shown the door, he said.


Swelling receivables of PSO, which have gone beyond Rs200 billion, have also been a factor behind the vulnerable position of Mir.

Despite attempts, and contact with the PSO spokesperson, Mir could not be reached for comments.

Three names are said to be under consideration for the top slot which include Dr Nazeer Alhawari, Ziaullah and Shahid Siddiqui.

“One of the three potential candidates may be appointed managing director of PSO without going into the process of advertisement,” a senior government official said, adding there was no bar on the government that it could not appoint managing directors of public sector oil and gas companies without publishing advertisements.

In recent months, heads of oil and gas companies have been hired through advertisements in newspapers. In the past, the petroleum ministry sent a summary containing three names for appointment as head of oil and gas companies without any advertisement. The predecessor of current PSO MD was also appointed without publishing ads.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior official of the petroleum ministry denied that the ministry had sent names for a new managing director of PSO. “If the government tries to appoint a new MD without advertisement, a litigation process may start,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6th, 2012.

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