| March 24, 2002 | Sunday | Muharram 9, 1423 |
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
ARD leaders’ detention
Karachi city website
AFTER delays of several years, work on the construction of a deep-sea port at Gwadar has at last begun. Credit goes to the present government and to Pakistan’s all-weather friend, China, for having brought a dream nearer. Costing $248 million, the port would help bring Balochistan’s coastal areas into the socio-economic mainstream and serve as a monument to the friendship between the two countries. That successive governments should have neglected this project — vital from both security and economic points of view — is indeed a commentary on our sense of priorities. The port comes as a much-needed national requirement in the wake of the rise in cargo traffic at Keamari and Bin Qasim, which are operating at nearly full capacity. More important, other tertiary development projects — the Mekran coastal highway, industrial estates in the economically depressed region, the Saindak project, and the Mirani dam and canals — are a welcome spinoff of the Gwadar project. The port and the coastal highway will take three years to complete, and, once linked with the rest of the road networks, will become an important part of Pakistan’s communications sector.
The existing cargo-handling capacity at the two Karachi ports is just over 20 million tons annually, whereas the existing load of cargo at these facilities is almost 19 MTA. This is expected to see a dramatic rise between now and 2015. With the construction of a third port, it is estimated that Pakistan will not only be able to meet its own requirements of the future but also offer its port facilities to the neighbouring countries. All this translates into hard cash for the exchequer and more job opportunities for the people inhabiting the Mekran region as well as those who will be involved in the transportation of goods to up-country and beyond. The Mekran coastal highway will also link Karachi with Iran and, thus, open a new and shorter trade route between the two countries. Gaining access to the more lucrative but landlocked central Asian markets via Iran and Afghanistan is also on the cards.
The people of Balochistan have long waited for this project to get off the ground. The federal government had first approved the construction of a deep-sea port at Gwadar back in December 1995, but the project could not get started because of a shortage of funds. In May 1999, China showed an interest in helping out to jumpstart the construction of the port by offering financial and technical assistance. Beijing also wanted to set up a dry port near the Pakistan-China border, so that western China could also benefit from the Gwadar seaport. This should be pursued, as it will create a ribbon of economic activity and hundreds of new jobs along the proposed highway linking Gwadar with the Karakoram highway in the north. It now seems that, given the promise of the benefits that will accrue to both China and Pakistan, the Gwadar port will come as a blessing that was long over due. While all this is happening, the government needs to make sure that the people of Balochistan should get their adequate share of the expected economic boom. It is only fair that part of the income generated from the new projects should go towards developing the basic socio-economic infrastructure in that under-developed province.
THE detention of the leadership of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy — a day ahead of a rally planned for Pakistan Day — is unfortunate for two obvious reasons. First, it reinforces the public perception that the military government is in no mood to tolerate any political activity; two, that such a response to what would have been a harmless protest demonstration shows the government’s propensity to over react to political dissent. A touch of autocracy was also seen in the way the Punjab government chose to flood the park outside Mochi Gate — the venue for the planned rally — with water and cordon it off with barbed wire. The authorities later claimed that a rally on the 8th of Muharram in a location considered sensitive was not a good idea, and that it had asked the ARD to hold a meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan. But the ARD leaders refused because reportedly there was a disagreement among them. The refusal came in handy to the government and enabled it to ban the rally altogether.
What makes the government action untenable is the fact that a politico-religious party was allowed to hold a public meeting on the same day in Rawalpindi without any pother. The government’s selectivity in these matters seems to be getting increasingly more pronounced. In fact, even a cursory look at Khabarnama would seem to suggest that certain politicians and political parties are getting regular coverage while others continue to be blacked out. Fortunately for the government, it does not have to justify anything, since it is not elected. However, it is still not too late to realize that giving all parties a level playing field is not only in the national interest, it also strengthens the government’s claims that it is neutral and that all it wants is a fair and free election and a return to democracy. It is time the government liberalized its attitude toward all forms of political activity so that its long-term intentions regarding the future political setup are not questioned.
THE launch by the Karachi city government of its official website is a positive development for many computer-literate Karachiites in that they will now be able to access a variety of local services without having to leave their homes. The website, at www.karachicity.gov.pk, allows users to download maps of the city and its road network, print out birth and death registration forms, and even tender documents for participating in official projects. The site also has links to several federal agencies and ministries, and has briefs (along with addresses) on the city’s 18 town councils. One of the more interactive features is that residents in any of these towns have the option to electronically file a complaint about civic services like garbage disposal, water supply, sewerage, roads and street lighting.
With probably the highest concentration of Internet services and users in the country, Karachi is the ideal place for such an experiment. The website is designed well and quite basic as far as presentation and graphics are concerned, with not too much to clutter the user. Arguably, the most useful feature is the one that allows complaints to send electronically — at a relatively low cost — to the office of the Nazim. However, it must be kept in mind that this in no way can substitute for dealing with complaints in the conventional manner. For one thing, even a relatively computer-savvy city like Karachi has a vast number of people who have no access to a computer. Ironically, it is this segment — for example, those living in kachchi abadis — who are often most in need of government services. Since the more affluent and more educated are likely to access the website and file a complaint electronically, it is important that the response from the relevant agencies should not be biased in their favour.