Seemingly, impressed by the plea, the Smeda chief recognised the urgency of finalising private sector pilot projects next week, so as to hold a final preparatory meeting of all the stakeholders on March 8.
He is reported to have agreed to present a comprehensive strategy to the Federal Industries and Special Initiatives Minister within 10 days after the proposed meeting. Needless to point out, the reign of poverty in the mineral rich areas can be, unmistakably, attributed to the gross indifference of the past governments, to the need of development of the marble industry to the increasing advantage of the people and the country.
What is all the more distressing about the predicament of this high potential industry, is the distortion in its entire spread, encompassing diverse activities from quarrying to processing, to industrial usage and commercial exploitation.
It will be noted that much though has been said about the neglect of agriculture as, primarily, the cause of overall backwardness of the country, the areas of neglect in other sectors, otherwise abounding in minerals, can hardly be denied. Since there are vast areas, notably in Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province, and adjoining tribal areas, where farming has never been the mainstay of the people, it is the neglect of mineral resources, which should be held responsible for their backwardness.
In fact, the neglect of the resource potentials in various parts of the country, can be better identified as the basic cause of menacing poverty all over the country. Although mining of stones has been practised over quite a long time in the mountainous regions, the technology for cutting and polishing of marble has remained basically as crude for its other varieties, onyx, in particular. It should, however, leave little to doubt that the use of locally fabricated cutting machines largely hampers precision, as these machines cannot but turn out low quality products.
Moreover, extraction of marble from blasting bedrock results not only in high wastage (up to 73 percent), but also produces small sized stones, thereby keeping prices depressed too.
It will also be noted that marble and granite together constitute the sixth largest quantity of minerals extracted in Pakistan. However, this is not to say that no effort has gone into its development. But the fact remains that whatever has been done in that direction has left a great deal to be desired. As such, losses accruing from the flawed approach to the development of this high potential resource can be seen as acquiring alarming proportions with the passage of time.
For one thing, some idea of its adverse impact on the economies of NWFP and Fata, alone, may be had from the simple fact that they produce about 87 percent of the overall production of minerals in the country, and yet add too little to the income levels of the people. It will also be noted that of the 160 million tons of the total estimated reserves of marble, 158 million tons are located in NWFP and Fata, followed by Balochistan, the known reserves of which total around 2 million tons.
Little wonder, notwithstanding the depressed state of marble mining in the country, it has helped create over 1600 processing units, including 685 small and medium size among them, largely concentrated in Karachi and other parts of Sindh, supplemented by large and small clusters in Punjab too. Now that vigorous efforts are being initiated to develop it on modern lines, the need of adopting a scientifically planned approach can hardly be ruled out.
This will, necessarily, require massive investment in mining operation, with due focus on modern methods and machinery. Viewed in this perspective, the APMIA's stress on liberal financing of its machinery requirements should appeal to reason too.