The writer is a business and economy journalist.
THIS is not how it’s done. Anybody who has ever worked on completing a large task will tell you that you are supposed to anticipate the challenges that will come your way, not wait for them to materialise and then mobilise in a hurry. It is not rocket science. It is basic management.
I read with disbelief a story that is still working its way through the news flow this week that shows how this government is still not managing the Covid crisis, they are muddling through it, despite almost one year since it began. A few days ago it was reported that the National Engineers Welfare Association (NEWA) wrote a letter to the prime minister telling him about two oxygen-producing plants at the Steel Mill in Karachi that have been lying idle since 2015.
Daily Times
April 28, 2021
KARACHI: If the Pakistan Steel Mill Oxygen Plant were running, it would be able to provide oxygen to hospitals in Pakistan today; it was the views of Pakistan Steel employees and workers’ union leaders.
Pakistan Steel employees and workers’ union leaders have urged the government to reactivate the Steel Mills oxygen plant. They said that in the current situation, the demand for oxygen can be met all over Pakistan by activating the Pakistan Steel Oxygen Plant and it will help to end the black marketing of oxygen. It may be mentioned here that due to the worsening coronavirus situation in the country, the hospitals are seeking more oxygen cylinders to treat the growing number of Covid-19 patients.
Govt moves to restore PSM oxygen plant amid virus uptick
The approval came within 24 hours of the letter sent to Premier Imran by the engineers
PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
KARACHI:
In view of the third wave of rapidly intensifying coronavirus in the country, the government has initiated the process to rehabilitate the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) oxygen plant to meet the demand for oxygen in the country.
According to sources, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), on the recommendation of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has given a green signal to the National Engineers Welfare Association, an association of experts affiliated with the PSM, to conduct a preliminary review of the oxygen plant.