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[Simpleton]

Army has its eye on Nato supplies deal



Khawar Ghumman | Front Page | From the Newspaper
6 hours ago

ISLAMABAD: The bankrupt Pakistan Railways management has pulled off the mother of all deals with the NLC, while the army is working hard behind the scenes for an equally big deal with the United States.

In the first week of February, railways signed a deal with the military-run National Logistics Cell (NLC) under which the cell will repair 30 railway locomotives of which 15 will be returned to the railways to use. The other 15 will be used by the NLC to carry freight booked by the NLC.

What does the NLC get out of this deal? This was a question that proved hard to answer as the NLC and the ISPR never bothered to reply to any questions despite a weeklong wait.

However, Dawn has learnt that the military is gearing up to earn big bucks from the transport of US/Nato/Isaf supplies via Pakistan’s land routes in the near future and this is what is behind the NLC deal with the railways.

In fact, negotiations between the Pakistan military and the US started as far back as 2009 for a share of the transport pie that has earned many individuals and companies in this country millions since the start of the war in Afghanistan over a decade ago.

A source within a transport company that carries military supplies to Afghanistan confirmed that trial runs were carried out at the request of the American government in 2009 and 2010; from Karachi to Peshawar and from Karachi to Chaman to not just see if the rail routes worked but also how long the journey took. “The journey to Chaman took seven days which was an improvement on the trucks as the increasing number of FC checkpoints was causing delays,” the source said.

It now appears that while the US waits for the parliamentary review of bilateral relations that was ordered after the Salala incident, behind the scenes the two sides are negotiating the terms and conditions for transporting Nato and American supplies to Afghanistan.

An official in the Foreign Office confirmed that the Americans, Nato officials based in Afghanistan, the NLC and the Foreign Office were working out some plan to use the railway for supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The recent trip by the newly appointed ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, to Pakistan was part of these negotiations, the official said.

This, however, is not the only price that is being demanded. Fees to use the roads as well as a charge at the port may also be negotiated.

The bi-partisan and bi-cameral Parliamentary Committee on National Security has also demanded that a fee be imposed on Nato trucks using roads in Pakistan as well as charging them around Rs30 billion for the repair of roads.

There is a third fee that may also witness a hike once these negotiations are over, although it is not confirmed.

At the Karachi port, goods for Afghanistan are charged at the rate of Rs15,000 per piece, while goods that have arrived from Afghanistan and are on the way out are charged Rs20,000.This fee was imposed in 2010 before which the NLC charged Rs5,000 per item for goods on way to Afghanistan. One reason these negotiations have become so important is that the country is trying to thrash out a deal where none existed to begin with.

After the 9/11 attacks and the quick decision of the allied states to invade Afghanistan, Pakistan could not negotiate any terms, monetary or otherwise, for the movement of US and Nato supplies through it.

As a result, the US reserved the right to choose the companies for the transportation of its supplies.

For Nato/Isaf and British military supplies, the NLC could select or nominate companies.

As a result, Pakistan was used as a route without the state making any money from a business that was worth big bucks.
Over time, Pakistan’s land routes became an important part of the war effort.

According to one estimate, the American supplies constitute about 70 per cent of the goods transported through Pakistan.
US Transcom Commander Gen William Fraser testified this year that “in 2011 more than 35,000 containers were delivered” through Pakistan.

When US embassy’s spokesman Mark Stroh was asked about the deal between the NLC and the railways, he said: “We are aware of the agreement but since the ground shipping lines remain closed, the effects of the agreement with regard to our shipping remain to be seen.”

However, observers say there is a chance that the Pakistan Army will end up with some share of the pie as no other route is as economical as the one through Pakistan.

At the moment, the Americans and the allies are flying in supplies but this is expensive. In addition they are using the ‘Northern Distribution Network’, a variety of routes across Central Asia that originate in Europe.

According to a report by the US National Public Radio, these routes cost “two or three times as much as shipping them by sea and moving them up through Pakistan”.

And the impending elections in the US and its financial constraints may be important factors influencing its decision, especially as the planned drawdown in Afghanistan may mean an increase in the supplies leaving the country.

In this regard, the Salala incident simply provided an opportunity to the army to increase its leverage on the issue.
It now remains to be seen what the outcome is and what the army ends up with.

At a time of dwindling aid and assistance from the US, ‘Rawalpindi’ may just strike gold with the NLC and the war in Afghanistan.

The NLC-railways deal
•    The agreement was signed between Railways General Manager (Operations) Saeed Akhtar and NLC Director General Maj-Gen Junaid Rehmat at the finance ministry on Feb 8.

•    The NLC will finance the repair of 30 locomotives at railway workshops.

•    The repair will cost roughly Rs500 million which will be paid by the NLC initially and will be reimbursed by the railways within two years in the form of rebate to the NLC against normal freight charges

•    According to the railways GM, the repair will be completed in eight to 10 months.

•    Of the repaired locomotives, 15 will be used to carry freight booked by the NLC, while the rest will be utilised by the railways for passenger and freight train services.

•    The three-year agreement can be extended.

•    The finance ministry has also allowed the NLC to purchase coaches and locomotives from the railways and to import coaches from South Korea and the US.

[BaburMissile]

Ten years have passed by with tens of thousands of innocent Pakistani lives lost. An entire country in disarray. An economy down the doldrums. Security down the gutter. Education, healthcare and a social sector virtually nonexistent. Clearly, we haven't learnt a thing and no one cares. The thick heads at GHQ need to understand that no amount of dirty deals can assure stability and prosperity within Pakistan as long as it remains part of an illegitimate war. There's no other purpose for such backdoor deals other than self profiting. After the Salala incident one would have expected sanity to prevail. On the contrary, more frantic efforts are being made to make a fast dirty buck. Innocent lives don't matter. Worse, Pakistan doesn't matter. It's pointless to blame the Yanks. We are allowing ourselves to be exploited. In fact, this has always been the case from day one. Conclusion is that we rather choose to be a beggar.

[Simpleton]

@ BaburMissile
dude, you've pretty much summed up the mess perfectly.  Besides this amounts nothing but blood money.

[Simpleton]

NLC allowed to use 15 repaired locomotives for three years


March 08, 2012 WASIM IQBAL / TAHIR AMIN

The agreement between Pakistan Railways (PR) and National Logistic Cell (NLC) will allow NLC the use of 15 repaired locomotives for transport of freight for three years, a senior official of PR said.

Talking to Business Recorder, he said that the agreement between PR and NLC was signed in February 2012 and is valid for a period of three years.
Under the agreement, NLC is allowed to transport all sorts of goods for all clients including Nato; however, he noted that the agreement does not specifically mention Nato.

PR, he further revealed, will charge NLC the same fares as it would charge other cargo operators.

According to the agreement, NLC will repair 30 locomotives out of which 15 will be given to PR while 15 will be used by NLC.Sources disclosed that the US and German embassies had originally expressed some reservations over handling of their cargos by NLC and requested that they be allowed to handle their cargos themselves.

However, their reservations have since been withdrawn, sources said.At present Pakistani private contractors are handling 87 percent of Nato cargo and only 13 percent cargo is being handled by NLC.

The percentage share of Nato cargo handled by NLC is expected to rise to 80 percent via PR, sources claimed.

The NLC on Wednesday categorically stated that the army has no role in transport of Nato supplies.

"NLC will perform any role in this regard as and when assigned by the Government of Pakistan", the statement reads.The NLC is a government controlled 'Crisis Management Organisation" attached with Ministry of Planning and Development and run by National Logistic Board (NLB).

The Board is chaired by Minister for Planning and Development, Finance Minister and has Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, four Federal Secretaries and Quarter Master General of the Pak Army who is also the Officer in Charge of NLC.However, when contacted the NLC official admitted that a serving army officer always heads the organisation.

"The Planning Commission has made several attempts to gain administrative control along with financial control of NLC but strong resistance was seen by the Pak Army", the source claimed.

President Khyber Trucks Association Shakirullah Khan Afridi showed serious concern over the PR-NLC deal and maintained that it would result in unemployment in the private transport sector.

He said that about 7,500 containers and oil tankers in use by private companies for Nato supply would be affected by the deal.Due to lack of adequate trucks previously NLC had subcontracted transport of Nato supplies to private contractors after completion of formalities by Customs authorities.

The NLC merely checked (a) letter of the embassy, (b) ISAF letter, © Invoices and (d) packing lists.During the Standing Committee of Commerce, the FBR officials had accused NLC of being responsible for the missing containers as NLC handled commercial containers and issued No Objection Certificate to private companies.

There were designated check posts for containers through Afghan Transit Trade Agreement and NLC officials knew it well, FBR accusers further elaborated.The official of NLC contacted by this correspondent insisted that all major decisions on behalf of the organisation are taken by NLB, which holds its regular board meetings, last of which was held on 6 March 2012.

It is stated that transportation of goods through Railways is a much cheaper mode than road.

NLC decided to adopt a three prong strategy to run, repair and acquire its own freight capability, not only to boost the freight cargo but also to extend assistance to PR at the time of need.

The concept and its implementation steps were taken to NLB, chaired by the Minister of Finance during its 46th and 48th meeting and requisite approval of the Board was sought.A NLC press release notes that "the regulation, control and monitoring of US/ISAF/Nato supplies remains a task assigned to the Organisation by Government of Pakistan through an ECC decision in November 2002.

No charges of any sort were levied on Nato from November 02 to February 08 from Coalition Forces.

A service charge of Rs 1,000 was levied by the Organisation in February 08 to meet its operational cost.

The same were increased to Rs 2,000 in August 2009 and subsequently to Rs 10,000 in July 2010.

All charges were presented and approved by NLB, before these were implemented".