THE business community is voluntarily contributing 0.25 per cent of its export earnings to a Sialkot city development package and so far, Rs130 million have been made available for the purpose.

The business community has also decided to undertake a mega project of international airport costing Rs2 billion. The airport will be developed by the private sector on 1,005 acres on a built, own and operate basis.

The project will be the first of its kind in the history of the country. The business community is facing hardships like duty drawback and sales tax refund claims. Under the circumstances, the commerce ministry and the Export Promotion Bureau should unearth the hidden hands that are hindering the smooth export activities in the area.

The provincial government was committed to providing matching grant in a ratio of 1:3 for the Sialkot city package and Rs100 million had been provided for the purpose so far. But later the grant was suspended due to unknown reasons.

Punjab Finance Minister Tariq Hamid visited the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry to have a chat on various issues and problems confronting the local business community. Interestingly, the minister said there was no sign of any agreement on providing a matching grant for the Sialkot city development package. The business community was astonished and insisted on the matching grant.

They complained that the district was ignored during allocation of funds for the annual development budget whereas the other districts of Gujranwala division had been provided huge budgets under the Khushal Pakistan Programme.

The ratio of revenue collection is high in Sialkot as compared to other districts of the division, but Sialkot district is given a stepmotherly treatment in resource allocation for development.

Industrial workers have been facing accommodation problems since long. Acquisition of land for the workers housing scheme has been completed and the stone-laying ceremony of this colony was performed by President Pervez Musharraf in September last, but no progress has been made in this regard. Allegedly, the provincial labour department is creating hurdles in the project due to unknown reasons.

IN the early hours of Nov 20 a fire broke out at a dustbin in Karim Centre on Zaibunissa Street. Before long, the fire spread to a nearby electricity junction box, gaining strength from the resultant short circuit. While most of us slept soundly in our homes, more than 250 owners of various-sized shops, including stitching units and small-scale export houses, lost the earnings of their lifetime. As the sun rose the following day, many shopowners could be seen sitting sorrowfully in front of the gutted building, lamenting the loss and damage.

The disaster also brought to the fore the reality that we were ill prepared to come to grips with such an accident. Out of the three five- to four-year-old fire tenders at the Saddar fire station, only one was able to refill and head towards Karim Centre at 12.43am. As one fire tender lies unserviceable for over a week with a clutch plate failure, the other has been lying abandoned ever since it met with an accident some 18 months back.

The second fire tender arrived at the scene from the headquarters on Lawrence Road. Sadly, both fire tenders had half crew, who put on a bold front as they fought a losing battle against the fire. By now, electric wires were creaking all over. As the fire devoured pre-Eid stocks of cotton and silk fabrics in the shops, small electric generators on different floors kept exploding, adding fuel to the flames. A balloon of fire and smoke appeared to hang over the entire area which got bigger as the day wore on.

In the interim, the trapped workers climbed over the roof. As their cries rent the air, amid coughing and gasping, the helpless volunteers downstairs became more and more nervous. The enraged crowd nearly beat up the city’s fire chief who reached the scene around 1.30am. He was forced by the mob to term the magnitude of the fire Category Three and call all available men and equipment to the fire site.

Unfortunately, the city fire service was deprived of wireless equipment by law-enforcement agencies during operations against the MQM some six years ago. The “Code Three” call, therefore, meant little; and a dozen or so fire tenders of more than 50 in the city’s inventory and the lone snorkel arrived at the scene. Crowds, meanwhile, continued to hoot and harass the reluctant personnel reaching the fire scene. Some firemen later told their colleagues that when the teasing crowd had asked the fire chief to help the people on the rooftop, he had complained of arthritis.

The area residents and some of the shopkeepers present at the scene also allege that at around Sehri, when the fire began to die down, the firefighters abandoned their posts to prepare for Sehri as the fire spread to the second floor.

The Saddar fire station, built in 1937, remains short of water. Though an approval for boring had been granted in 1995, nothing seems to have been done about it. The station cannot store water for more than five or six tanker trips. The situation at the headquarters is not very different. By the morning the fire tenders were going around the city, even as far as Korangi, looking for water. By 10am even the chief fire officer was desperately knocking at door of the Muslimabad hydrant for water. The fire that could have been put out in a couple of hours lasted more than a day due to the shortage of men, equipment and water.

It is a pity that the government officials who run the country on a day-to-day basis cannot figure out how the tragedy of last Tuesday will affect the victims for a long time to come. Businesses may have suffered losses worth billions of rupees in less than 24 hours. Some of the shops trading in unstitched fabric may have stocks for more than ten million rupees for all we know.

We have neither mandatory network for the insurance of stocks nor a state-cover policy for the victims of Karim Centre. The token relief of Rs50,000 or Rs100,000 that may ultimately come from the authorities would amount to more than a cruel joke for the victims. Over a thousand men may have lost their jobs.

A Memon Seth family with substantial control over the stock market built Saddar’s Karim Centre some thirty years ago. According to the Edhi volunteers and the fire fighters, the biggest physical impediment was the violations by the builders who happen to be extremely influential and immune to any action by the authorities. Disaster was just waiting to strike the building with single access to the upper floors and with every inch of open space dished out to some small businesses. One of the senior officers at the Karachi Building Control Authority dared anyone touch a builder in Saddar town now that it has an elected council to safeguard the interest of the general public.

Karachi perhaps has the best-equipped fire service in the country. In all, the various agencies in the city have more than 70 fire tenders. Most of these fire tenders have a capacity for carrying more than 2,000 gallons of water and a thousand litres of foam to put out fuel or chemical fires. However many of them lie in a shambles, requiring minor repairs. The city fire service has been short of manpower since a three-shift system was introduced a few months back.

Lots of voices were raised at the outbreak of the fire at the offices of the Investment Corporation of Pakistan at the National Bank of Pakistan building. Many expected a thorough investigation into the causes of the fire, more so because the fire had claimed the life of the chief security officer of the NBP building on Aug 9. In view of such a “glorious past” there is hardly a chance that this time around the government will swing into action, and apart from providing relief to the victims it will look into the causes of the fire.

THIS is the age of economics and frantic efforts are being made to seek prosperity at the individual as well as the national level with support from international agencies. While less developed countries are trying to get out of the poverty tap, developed countries want to acquire more wealth to maintain their supremacy.

The prevalent concept identifies economic prosperity, or welfare with the amount of wealth. How Islam guides in this sphere is of vital importance for us. Islam treats wealth as a bounty of Allah and as a means of discharging obligations placed on man. Muslims are exhorted in the Quran, “O ye who believe! when the call is made for Prayer on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off all business. That is better for you, if you only knew. And when the Prayer is finished then disperse in the land and seek of Allah’s grace and remember Allah much that you may prosper.” (62:10-1) “Your Lord is He Who drives for you ships in the sea that you may seek His bounty. surely, Allah is Merciful toward you.” (17:67).

The holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said “It is no virtue to disdain wealth because through it the obligations to relatives are discharged, trusts are redeemed and a person becomes independent of other human beings.” Seeking livelihood through lawful means is a duty, among other duties. It is like striving in the cause of Allah, as a person strives to provide for his old parents, to bring up his children and for himself so that he is not reduced to begging. According to a Tradition “On the Day of Judgment the rich and poor would equally wish that they were provided in the world which was just sufficient.”

Islam does not look at wealth as an end in itself to be ruthlessly pursued at the expense of other many noble objectives. In fact, accumulation of wealth is looked down upon. It is in the Quran: “And let not those who are niggardly with respect to what Allah has given them of His bounty, think that it is good for them; nay, it is evil for them. That with respect to which they are niggardly shall be put as a collar round their necks on the Day of Resurrection.” (3:181)

“And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah give them the tidings of a painful punishment. On the day when it shall be made hot in the fire of Hell and their foreheads and their sides and their backs shall be branded therewith and it shall be said to them, “This is what you treasured up for yourselves; so now taste what you used to treasure up.” (9:34-5).

When this verse was revealed some Muslims were very much perturbed. Hazrat Umar promised to ease their care and went to the holy Prophet and informed him of their worry. He said, “Allah has made Zakat obligatory simply to purify your remaining wealth, and He made inheritance obligatory that it may come to those who survive you.” “Riches are pleasant and sweet. He who acquires them by the way, they are a source of blessing for him; but they are not blessed for him who seeks them out of greed. He is like one who eats but is not filled.”

While wealth provides the Wherewithal to do good, it exposes the holder to many temptations for sin and transgression which a poor person is prevented from just for want of resources. Thus in Islam wealth is a serious trial for the holder on par with children. This is how the Quran puts it: “And know that your possessions and children are but a trial and that it is Allah with Whom is a great reward.” (64:16) “You will surely be tried in your possessions and persons.” (3:187)

“Do they think that by the wealth and children with which We help them, We hasten to do them good? Nay, but they understand not.” (23:56) “So let not their wealth nor their children excite thy wonder. Allah only intends to punish them therewith in the present life and that their souls may depart while they are disbelievers.” (9:55)

What was the attitude of early Muslims in regard to the extent of wealth which was considered desirable? The holy Prophet said, “My Lord offered to convert the barren valley of Makkah into gold for me but I said, ‘No, O my Lord! I wish I had enough to fill my stomach one day and remain hungry the other day so that I might remember You when hungry and be thankful to You when my stomach is full.”

For himself, the holy Prophet wanted that much which just sufficed his family. “O My God, make me live the life of a poor man and let death come to me when I am poor.” For others, “He who begins the day secure as to his life, in good physical condition, and possessing one day’s provision is as if the world and all it contains were bestowed upon him.”

Early Muslims were really worried when a large amount of wealth accrued to them. Here are two examples. Hazrat Umar began weeping when once war spoils consisting of precious stones came to him. This surprised those present there, as this was an occasion for expression of gratitude to Allah. He explained, saying, “By Allah, I weep because when Allah bestows wealth on a people, it can cause malice and jealousy, which, in turn, ultimately ends up in civil strife.”

On another occasion, he called Ibn Abbas to help in distribution of a heap of gold and said to him, “Let us distribute it among the people. Only Allah knows better why He withheld this wealth from the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr and why has He given it to me. I do not know whether this is for good or bad.” With this he started crying, “By Him who appointed Muhammad as a true Prophet, it is impossible that Allah withheld this wealth from His Prophet and Abu Bakr, as something bad, and handed it down to Umar for some good.”

Hazrat Abdur Rehman bin Auf had a Midas touch and he became fabulously rich after Migration. His wealth overawed him so much that he went to a wife of the holy Prophet Hazrat Umme Salma and said, “I am afraid that my wealth may not destroy me.” Her advice was to spend it away in charity. This he did. Immediately sold a piece of land for forty thousand dirhams and gave the proceeds in charity. He also gave away commercial goods being carried by a caravan consisting of seven hundred camels, along with the camels.

Islam is averse to extremes of poverty and affluence and advocates a middle course, as in any other aspect of human life. The holy Prophet used to pray: “I seek Thy protection from the evil of affluence and poverty.” He sought Allah’s protection against hunger calling it “a bad companion.” He said, “None of you expects anything than riches leading into error, or poverty causing to forget.” “Poverty takes a man to the boundary of disbelief.”

According to Islam, economic prosperity cannot be determined by the quantity of wealth but by the quality of life. It wants not the greatest welfare of the largest number, leaving the minority in the cold, as modern economics would have it, but the greatest welfare of all. There should be no deprivation and that nobody sleeps with empty stomach. This is ensured by meeting the basic needs of all for which the affluent are required to provide the wherewithal, on compulsory as well as voluntary basis. The holy Prophet said, “Spend and do not accumulate, and do not keep back what is spare, else Allah will hold back from you.”