Yet another way to mint money

ISLAMABAD After influencing legislation on the Competition Ordinance, mafias and cartels ranging from sugar to fuel oil have now made their inroads to the Ministry of Petroleum with aims to exploit consumers in yet another way.
This time methodology is to fleece both the national exchequer and the consumers under the camouflage of oil blending in Pakistan. According to well-placed sources, a company that remained under NAB investigation in the previous regime and was blacklisted as a supplier of petroleum product has now applied for the permit of oil blending in Pakistan.
Mere application or proposal of setting up an oil blending facility here was not worrisome at all but what is really disturbing is their achievement in getting connected with Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar and also with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani through one of his family members, the sources said.
The way they (once blacklisted company) are hunting for connections in the power corridor itself speaks of their determination to get the concession from the Government, the sources informed. Therefore the foreign company that was known to supply off spec material with added water and manipulate bills of lading all with the help of their local agent would adulterate various products under the license of blending, they alleged.
The sources further disclosed to TheNation saying, When they were blacklisted they got the help of certain high-ups in the Musharraf regime to help them get off the black list and paid millions of dollars as bribe to get this done.
Afterward they went and got an oil marketing license to sell their product to both PSO and the market here locally, the sources informed. Now they have planned another multibillion dollar plan to defraud Pakistan by getting Petroleum Minister to approve the blending of fuel oil in Pakistan for them, they added.
According to the sources, the Minister has already given his consent and ordered the Ministry to do the needful but fortunately some dedicated bureaucrats have stood in the way of this bulldozing of a notion.
According to the sources, some senior officials of the Ministry of Petroleum have observed that setting up of oil blending facility here does not justifies as Pakistan is importer of 85 percent of the needs for petroleum products.
Hats off to those officers that are holding off on it despite pressure from both the Ministry as well as the PM House, the sources informed. If this company or any other is allowed to start a blending operation in Pakistan, they will bring in off spec product and show that they have blended it, they feared. They would sell here those off spec products at a huge loss to the country and cause billions of dollars worth of losses and damage to the power sector equipment, they added.
According to the sources, Pakistan is not an oil producing country with surplus quantities of oil components so it makes no sense economically to set up blending of petroleum products here. If any company does set this up, they will do so for the purpose of selling off spec product.
Another interest in setting up oil blending facility is that of the sugar mafia as molasses is used in oil blending. The blenders having their facilities based here would be the buyers of the sugar millers that at present send their product abroad to sell to the blenders there at a nominal price as well as discretion of the blender. That is why the sources informed that sugar mafia people are also backing the proposals of allowing blending set-ups here. And it is needless to say who are the backers of the sugar mafia, as many members of almost all political parties are dealing in sugar.