| January 4, 2002 | Friday | Shawwal 19, 1422 |
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Reluctant peacemaker
Why resort to PPO?
ON the occasion of the New Year, the people of Pakistan had received a rare promise of relief. The National Electric Regulatory Authority (Nepra), having taken notice in its quarterly review of the continuous decline in the prices of furnace oil during the last three months, had determined that Wapda and the KESC reduce the power tariff by nine paisa and 13 paisa respectively and asked the government to issue a notification making reduction effective from January 1. While taking this decision Nepra took into consideration the decrease in the price of furnace oil, on account of which “the annual fuel bill of Wapda/distribution companies and the KESC for the year 2001-02 had decreased as compared to the estimation made in the last quarterly adjustment.” However, the notification has not been issued yet.
Reports now suggest that Wapda has taken up the issue in review with Nepra, which in turn asked Wapda to specify how much raise it wanted. In its petition it did not mention the amount of increase but stated that it was suffering a cash deficit of Rs 35.2 billion. However, it had earlier demanded an increase of 35 paisa per unit in tariff despite the decline in the price of furnace oil. Realizing that Wapda had always had its way, one wonders whether relief will really materialize. If Nepra upholds its decision and the relief is actually passed on to the consumers, it will be a welcome precedent and will go a long way towards establishing the credibility of the government in respect of its promises that prices of strategic products will be allowed to be adjusted according to fluctuations in price trends in the world market. Only two years ago, oil prices had touched rock bottom at $9 a barrel, but even then the prices of oil-based products and services — electricity and transport — were not reduced and otherwise, too, the benefit of lower oil prices were not passed on to the consumers.
A reversal of the decision now by Nepra, if it really comes about, will be disappointing in view of the fact, as Nepra itself had noted, that the price of furnace oil had declined from Rs 10,910 to Rs 7,876 per metric tonne between September and December. The net effect of this decline was the saving in the fuel bills of Wapda and the KESC to the extent of Rs 1.87 billion and Rs 1.5 billion respectively. This calculation takes into account the impact of the increased thermal generation due to the reduction in hydro-electric generation owing to the shortage of water.
Nepra has excluded “life-line” residential consumers using up to 50 units from the benefit of the reduction on the ground that they were not subjected to earlier increases. Fair enough as far as it goes, but it would have been better if they had also shared the benefit, for they deserve relief the most. Wapda and the KESC are financially in bad shape because of abnormal line losses, pilferage of power and accumulation of arrears. Nepra itself has several times directed them to improve the situation in these regards. But there is a tendency in the two utilities not to pay as much attention as is warranted to these questions; instead, they try to make up the losses through periodic increases in tariff. It is time the managements gave up this practice and improved efficiency in their operations.
WITH Pakistan and India engaged in a potentially catastrophic build-up of forces along their borders, British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s South Asian visit had aroused hopes that he could help reduce tension. However, Britain seems eager to play down the significance of Mr Blair’s role as a potential peacemaker. While a statement from the prime minister’s office stated that Mr Blair would like to mediate between the two countries, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw moved quickly to dampen any high expectations from the visit. Mr Straw insisted that the trip had been planned long before the post-Dec 13 tensions erupted, adding:” there is no Blair peace plan which the prime minister can or should take out of his pocket.” He also went on to state that the Kashmir dispute was essentially a bilateral affair that should be sorted out through dialogue between Pakistan and India and that Mr Blair could only help pave the way for such a dialogue. The fact that the offer of mediation came from the prime minister’s office and not Mr Blair himself shows how eager Britain is not to ruffle Indian feathers.
Being the guilty party, India has traditionally been vehemently opposed to mediation over Kashmir. The British have bitter memories of the disastrous visit to India by former foreign secretary Robin Cook in 1997, when he had offered to mediate. His comments caused an uproar in India, which countered by terming Britain “a third-rate power.” Meanwhile, tension along the borders continues to grow, despite the optimism briefly raised by the fleeting meeting between their foreign ministers in Kathmandu. So tense is the situation at the borders that even a handshake, smiles and an exchange of pleasantries between Mr Abdul Sattar and Mr Jaswant Singh were met with relief in most world capitals. With dialogue and mediation ruled out by India, and Pakistani efforts to crack down against the militants summarily dismissed by New Delhi as cosmetic, it is difficult to see where the current stand-off will lead. Without formally donning the mantle of mediator, Mr Blair could at least help to defuse the extreme tension prevailing at the borders before the situation spins out of control.
ONCE again the present government has slapped punitive action on yet another newspaper. On Wednesday, an Islamabad evening newspaper, Dopehar, was banned for a month. Since October 1999, several publications have fallen victim to the long obsolete Press and Publications Ordinance promulgated way bock in 1963. Although the draconian PPO has been replaced by a watered-down Revised Press and Publications Ordinance, it lapsed before it could become an Act of parliament. In the absence of any new law in the country relating to the operation of the press, it would have been more appropriate if action against any publication committing an act inimical to the interest of the state were taken under the existing laws. It is unfortunate that the government should, instead, have fallen back on the PPO, which it recognizes as obsolete.
What the government ought to do to speed up the negotiations it is having with the newspaper industry for a new package of press and information laws. The All Pakistan Newspapers Society, together with the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, has already drafted a new ordinance, spelling out a code of ethics for the press. In return, the press wants a law on access to information. The sooner these negotiations come to fruition, the better it would be for all concerned. Until then, any action by the government against a newspaper will be seen and read as an act that is contrary to its oft-repeated committment to press freedom.