| March 15, 2002 | Friday | Zilhaj 30, 1422 |
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Another national monument?
Getting richer at the cost of the poor
Values of a raw society
New telemetry system
Shifting of HBFC office
Overcharging at toll plazas
Credit card chaos
Painting of electric poles
A matter of opinion
Old pensioners hardly cost much
Laws to protect women
Religious processions
ICP mutual funds
SOME important questions arise regarding urban planning and development. Besides the use of land for residential purposes, do our cities and towns provide the right kind of land for socio-economic development? Are our urban boundaries sprawling haphazardly or expanding in an orderly manner? Is there any need for re-organizing the city limits on account of the population pressure? What is the broad dimension and pattern of future requirements of urban land and with what implications?
These and a host of other related questions make it incumbent that a study of the existing land use patterns in our cities and towns be undertaken.
Land use pattern of a city or town is essentially a reflection of its economic and social form and structure. In view of the diversity in the economic and social structures of cities and towns, there are nearly as many patterns of land use and city layout as there are cities and towns. However, generally there seem to be several similarities in the pattern of land use in most cities and towns. This may be ascribed to the fact that the forces which lead to urbanization generally seem to be the same.
Cities and towns tend to have certain characteristics that smaller rural settlements do not have. For a proper understanding of the basic characteristics of cities and towns and for providing an insight into the maladjustment in the land use patterns of the cities and towns, it is useful to undertake a scientific study of the existing land use patterns of the cities and towns in the country.
The term ‘existing land use’ refers to the current utilization of land at a particular point of time. Here the term has been used strictly in the sense of utilization of urban land as it existed at the time of conducting the land use surveys for the purpose of preparing development plans in respect of the cities and towns. It, therefore, becomes extremely essential to carry out the existing use carefully to work out future land use proposals. The existing land use in other words means the pre-plan land use.
By and large, the urban land is classified broadly into such uses as: residential; commercial; industrial; parks and playgrounds; roads and streets; and vacant land.
It is suggested that the analysis of the existing land use be made on the basis of the above mentioned classification of urban land use. It is generally observed that the land contained within the municipal jurisdiction of cities and towns is not necessarily occupied wholly for urban use.
The bulk of the land, on the other hand is found to be occupied for agriculture and other rural activities. Such land under urban use or in which urban infrastructure have already been built comes under ‘developed land’ and land if utilized for agriculture or allied function comes under the category of ‘undeveloped land’.
SYED MOBIN AHMAD
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letter ‘Another national monument’ by Mr Mohammad Iqbal (March 6).
I fully endorse the views expressed by the writer. How on earth can we afford to build the so-called ‘national monument’ in the current situation where the economy of the country is worse than ever and where we find ourselves at the mercy of international donors even for running our daily affairs?
I wonder how our leaders and bureaucrats could even think of spending the tax-payers’ money on such an extravagance. What benefit can the nation draw from the construction of a national monument when basic health facilities are lacking, when the literacy rate is much less than 50 per cent and a large part of the population does not have access to clean drinking water? We need nothing else but more and better hospitals, schools and roads.
DR MUNEEZA AAMIR SAMI
Karachi
DR Baligha Arif (March 5) grudges the recent increase in the emoluments and perks of the autocrats of this poor country. A de facto government has a very bright future of becoming de jure. It has inherent power to grab or snatch whatever it likes. Mr Ahsan Iqbal (March 6) has also flayed the raise in the salaries of the president and judges. He laments the elitist culture at the cost of the poor strata of society.
A glaring example of this mindset is the pension commutation of low-paid civil servants who retired some 15 years ago. They repaid their gratuity in full and hoped for the restoration of the surrendered portion of their meagre pensions. But the new pension rules have deprived them from what is otherwise their due. Their days are numbered and their number is thinning every day. They have not the means and energy for litigation. The finance ministry may, therefore, exempt them from the operation of the new rules.
ABDUR RASHID
Lahore
JOE Fisher, writing in South End, believes that the Muslims in America need to be de-programmed to adopt more productive values. By ‘productive’ he probably means success in the materialistic sense.
What this kind of blinkered thinking does to the moral and social fabric of a society, does not bother him in the least. The permissive society born out of the First Amendment has played havoc with the old values which sustain individuals and groups of people.
Family life as cherished and practised by the Muslims is non-existent in urban America. A veritable wasteland of drugs and delinquency, gun-toting school children, almost pre-teenage and pre-marital relations, post-marital liaisons, unwed mothers, single parents, multiple mothers/fathers, psychiatric clinics, old-age homes and anything else you can think of (celebrities announcing their wedding dates after the birth of their child). Is this what the ‘productive’ values lead to?
The near-nudity by the married (and the unmarried) in pubic places, leaving nothing to the imagination; a horde of roving-husbands hankering after the greener grass on the other side of the fence. On another level, it is said that the Americans have eliminated pornography from their society — by making it common, every day occurrence, in print (Penthouse) and on the tube (M-net).
Are these the productive values that Mr Fisher would have the Muslims adopt? Yes, there is much we can learn from the west — organization, discipline, work-ethics, civic sense and a lot more, but please do not talk of values of a yet very young and raw society. Rather, try and adopt the age old values of ancient civilizations and rich cultures, also found in many parts of middle America.
KHURSHID ANWER
Lahore
THIS is with reference to a news item regarding the installation of a new telemetry system for irrigation by the Indus River System Authority. Why is this authority interested in buying a complete new system which would be much costlier? What is needed is the extension of the existing system, which the Wapda is already using, and all this can be done at a much lower cost.
The disadvantages in using the new system are:
Annual fee of satellite link, which the government of Pakistan would have to pay in US dollars on yearly basis forever.
In case of link failure, no control over maintenance.
No expertise of satellite system available in the country.
In case of emergency situation, jamming of satellite by owner country.
The system will become a combination of various systems like satellite, vhf/hf, telephone leased lines, etc. So different types of trained manpower would be required.
On the other hand, if Wapda’s existing telemetry system is continued, the following would be the advantages:
Infrastructure is already available, which can accommodate new remote stations.
No annual fee.
Trained manpower is available.
The whole network consists of single communication system.
The system is already running satisfactorily for the last seven years.
MEHMOOD
Karachi
THIS is to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to the decision regarding the shifting of the regional office of the House Building Finance Corporation from Gilgit to Abbottabad. Because of this step the people of the area are facing great difficulties as they have to travel long distances to apply for HBFC loans.
HBFC extended its jurisdiction to the Northern Areas in early ‘70s. It was later upgraded as regional office because of its good work.
The President is requested to order the relevant quarters to bring back the regional office to Gilgit.
NIAZ MUHAMMAD BAIG
Village Jutial,
Gilgit
I WOULD like to draw the attention of the concerned authority to an open violation of rules. On the Sargodha-Lahore Road, the toll plaza contractors are overcharging the motorists.
It is clearly written on the notice board at the toll plaza that if a person has to leave the road before he arrives at the next toll plaza, he would be charged half the rate. But the staff sitting there are charging the full amount.
When I protested, they started misbehaving and giving threats. I contacted some local officers but they have done nothing. I, therefore, request the higher authorities to please look into the matter and take necessary steps.
NUSRAT HAYAT
Sargodha
I WOULD like to share my harrowing experience at the hands of the designers of a major credit card scheme in Pakistan.
Last month, I paid about 60 per cent of the total outstanding balance against my credit card account. Later on, I was shocked to find that a very high service charge had been imposed on the following month’s statement.
Consequently, I wrote to the bank to look into the matter as, according to my calculation, a 3 per cent mark-up should have been charged on the 40 per cent remaining balance. In response, I got a reply, which I quote: “If payment of any amount less than the current balance outstanding on or before the applicable payment due date is received, then a service fee of 3 per cent of the current balance is applied.”
The letter further explains that “if partial or payments less than the full outstanding amount is made, the service fee will be charged on each retail transaction posted on the statement on a first in, first out basis.”
To make the calculation simple, the letter further adds: “For transactions that are covered by payment, the service fee is charged from the transaction date to the payment date. For transactions that are not covered by the payment, the service fee is charged from transaction date to the statement date.”
I only hope that the credit card users can understand this ridiculous way of charging mark-up from the day of purchase.
Collecting undue mark-up is ‘legalized robbery’. But then, who cares in this land of the pure?
TALHA SIDDIQUI
Karachi
IT is indeed heartening to see that electric poles in Nazimabad Block No.4 are being painted. Their condition had really worsened.
But there is a point of concern too. And that is the way in which this work is being carried out. I believe that the KESC must have laid down the standard painting specifications which, to a minimum demand for derusting of steel structure, requires the application of two coats of zinc oxide and then two coats of the final paint. This is not at all being followed.
If all this is specified and the contractor is not doing it, then he is reaping a lot of money. The rotten old paint on which the new paint is applied is going to destroy the whole effort within no time. It is simply throwing money in the drain.
If the work is being carried out as per the directions of the KESC, then one can only feel sorry for the organization.
Will any competent authority look into this matter.
ENGR DILAWAR HUSAIN
Karachi
I READ with great interest the article by Mr Roedad Khan, ‘Threat to Islamic World’, (Dawn, March 8). Mr Khan is an experienced and well-read person, but, in the article referred to above, he has erred grossly in making comparisons between various personalities.
He compares Bush with Chengiz Khan and Halaku keeping in view the atrocities committed against the Muslims in the 13th and 21st centuries. This comparison can be marginally acceptable but one feels perturbed when he compares Ibn Tamiyya with Osama bin Laden. How one can compare and equate patriotism of the highest order with terrorism of the worst breed? Such comparisons are absurd.
S. TAJAMMAL H. RIZVI
Lahore
THE federal finance minister, Mr Shaukat Aziz, has reportedly said that he realizes the hardship faced by old pensioners who have not been allowed the restoration of their commuted portion of pensions even after 15 years of retirement and that he would look into the case.
The new pension rules promulgated on Dec 1, 2001, ought to have been applied to new pensioners who would also have benefited from enhanced pay scales. It is downright cruel to apply the ban on the restoration of commuted pension retrospectively as it works to the disadvantage of old pensioners.
The only option left for old pensioners would be to go to a court of law which would, however, take a decade or two to decide. Meanwhile, old pensioners would have become extinct as a species. It now depends on the finer sensibilities of our finance minister whose very person exudes compassion and reason. We can expect that he would restore the commuted pensions of old pensioners after 15 years of their retirement. Let me assure him that not many pensioners would survive past the age of 75 years in the present economic environment of ever-escalating utility bills with recurring financial stress on their lives.
DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
THE theatrical presentation during the National Women’s Convention brought tears to my eyes, as it was an extremely moving portrayal of the abuse which many helpless females suffer in our society. Bringing about reforms in education and political participation for women is a good initiative, but in a society where male chauvinism provokes domestic violence, an educated woman will feel just as helpless as an uneducated woman, if the law is not on her side.
The real essence in providing women security is by implementing their legal rights, and by declaring it a criminal offence for any husband, father, brother (or any other male relation) to subject any woman in the family to physical abuse.
A threatening male will think twice before victimizing a woman if he knows the consequences of venting his wrath, will result in legal charges and a possible jail sentence. This is where the government must put words into actions and provide all women protection by the judiciary system.
It is also quite tragic to note, that in a society where a woman may command great respect in the role of a mother, she may be equally vulnerable to degradation as someone’s wife, sister or daughter.
SHABNAM NASIR
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to the letters of Ms Khadija Karamali (March 4) and Mr Nazim Haji (March 7). Both the writers have covered almost all the points related to the issue except one. And that is the adverse effect on business activities and the inconvenience caused to the commuters.
Any procession, whether religious or otherwise, results in the closure of business throughout the route of the procession, if not for the whole day then at least for a few hours. Not only this, but people working in the offices located on the route of the procession also have to face great inconvenience.
M. FAZIL BHARUCHA
Karachi
THE ICP played a significant role in the past to boost the capital market and win the confidence of small investors. Mutual funds floated uptill 1990 were professionally managed and were a good source of return for small investors.
However, mutual funds floated from 1991 to 1995, that is, from the 21st to the 25th ICP mutual funds, aggregating a total paid up capital of Rs13 billion and further capital raised for 1st to 20th mutual fund by offering right shares, have resulted in the loss of even the original investment made by the investors.
It was so because for these mutual funds, the so-called professional fund managers had made investments without working out the feasibility and had just obliged their political bosses at the cost of the investors.
The fact is that the investors never got any return on their investment in the last over ten years on 21st to 25th ICP mutual funds, and only a token amount of dividend was declared once or twice just to save technical unlisting from the stock exchange.
The market price of a Rs10 face value certificate is in the range of Rs1.50 to Rs3 only which means that the entire principal amount has gone into the drain. Interestingly, even for the mutual funds running into losses, the ICP bosses used to charge ‘management fee’ for the entire mismanagement, at a very high rate of 3 per cent of the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the fund, whereas before 1990 it was 0.5 per cent of the paid up capital of the fund.
The ICP has collected over Rs300 million in the name of management fee only from the weakest mutual funds, 21st to 25th, and it is expected that the remaining NAV will also be eaten out with the same spirit. Now there is a change in the ICP management and it is expected, and fairness also demands, that the management fee already charged without any dividend to investors, must be refunded to the funds so that it may become a Nil-Nil situation for both the investors and the ICP management.
M. AMIN
Karachi
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