Reforming by diktat

THERE is something breathtakingly arrogant about the US decision to unveil an ambitious and unilateral plan of action for the Middle East. Released in Washington on Friday, the plan proposes to bring about sweeping social, political and economic changes in the region. While many of the proposals are in themselves not particularly controversial, it is the imperious manner in which the plan has been handed down from high above that make it seem like a royal decree rather than a set of proposals meant to be considered. At the centre of the proposals is the decision to establish a free trade zone in the region on the lines of agreements already in place between the US and two regional nations, Israel and Jordan. The US also seeks to negotiate bilateral treaties with individual Arab states and financially assist them in increasing their trade capacities. Washington proposes to make the Arab countries full members of the World Trade Organization and promote transparency and discourage corruption in the region through the reform of commercial codes.

The reforms contain proposals on a host of other issues, ranging from the trivial to the profound. These include empowering women, giving them better facilities and incentives to pursue education, giving parents a greater say in the running of schools, imparting leadership and organizational skills to women and launching media training initiatives. What is remarkable about this wish-list is that it has been announced as a fait accompli without any prior discussion or debate between the US and the regional countries involved. This is not only patronizing but reveals a colonial and unilateralist mindset that must be deplored. Significantly, the jargon employed is akin to the language of the UN agencies and NGOs rather than the language of the battlefield heard in recent months. The plan of action is clearly designed as a sop to those outraged by the American occupation of Iraq and by Washington’s support to Israel’s repressive policies against the Palestinians. The intent to present a more humane US face to the Middle East is so palpable that there is already much speculation about the plan’s real aims and objectives.

Many in the region see it as nothing more than a major public relations exercise aimed at addressing the widespread anti-American sentiment in the region. However, without any meaningful advances on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, such steps will only be seen as window dressing. The US must realize that at the heart of the current anti-Americanism in the region is Washington’s indulgent stance towards Israel. Unless it pressures Israel and forces it to stick to its part of the obligations under the new peace initiative, no amount of well-meaning rhetoric on women’s empowerment and parents’ rights in the matter of education will convince a sceptical Middle East of American bona fides. The US seems to be treating the people of the Middle East rather like it does those of Latin America. Treated as the US’s backyard, Latin America must do as the Americans want it to or face the consequences. The delicate task of reshaping the Middle East is better left to its own people to handle, according to their own lights, with the help of the United Nations where necessary. The US, or any other country, is fully free to guide and assist in this effort. But to try to enforce reforms by diktat can only fuel greater resentment in the region. Democratization and basic reforms are essentially evolutionary processes and simply cannot be thrust on nations and peoples by means of external pressure and intimidation.

Higher power tariff

BECAUSE of their precarious financial health, Wapda and the KESC have succeeded in extracting government approval for partial tariff increases. It was announced on Saturday that the prime minister has approved a raise of seven paisa per kwh of electricity for Wapda and nine paisa per kwh for KESC for certain categories of consumers. The raise was much lower than determined by Nepra, which had approved an increase of 14.35 paisa per kwh for Wapda for farmers using tubewells and domestic consumers and a raise of 20 paisa for KESC. The difference is now going to be picked up by the government. Farmers using tubewells and domestic consumers using up to 50 units of electricity have been exempted from these tariff hikes.

Apparently, the government is sticking to the earlier decision to provide 33 per cent subsidy to tubewell users for the coming Kharif season. Hopefully the multilateral donors, opposed to all kinds of subsidies, have been consulted. While some consumers will be partially protected by a subsidy, common citizens will be hit by the inflation caused by the new tariffs. Consequently, the cost of transporting goods of daily use and travel expenses will go up. In fact, consumers will continue to remain hostage to the operational inefficiency of Wapda and KESC. The two corporations have huge line losses — 43 per cent in the case of KESC and 25.2 per cent for Wapda. FATA consumers owe Wapda Rs 24 billion with actual payments totalling less than one per cent of billing revenues. The operational efficiency of the two utilities suffers from line losses, theft and wastage. For the survival of any commercial organization, it is imperative that its products are globally competitive. It is high time that both Wapda and KESC strive to cut costs and focus on operational efficiency so that they can best serve the interests of consumers rather than surviving at their cost.

For better traffic regulation

THE Sindh Police’s decision to install surveillance cameras at key intersections in Karachi with a view to checking traffic violations is both timely and well judged. Traffic violations and the resulting chaos on Karachi’s roads have assumed menacing proportions in recent years. The installation of surveillance cameras and the linking of these devices to the nearby traffic police check posts will ensure that the violators do not go undetected or unpunished. It will also help combat car theft and check incidents of carjacking, which have seen an alarming rise. The police can also use these cameras as a mechanism to monitor protest rallies and to help defuse situations that can cause serious law and order problems. Thus, once installed, and with an effective monitoring system in place, the surveillance cameras can help detect crime and violations as is a practice in many developed countries.

But first things first. The rapidly growing number of vehicles plying on Karachi’s roads, if not regulated along modern lines, can play havoc with civic life. Already, incidents involving untrained and under-age drivers driving all kinds of private and commercial vehicles and speeding their way through congested city roads are commonplace causing accidents and traffic jams. Mini-bus drivers, who are notorious for speeding and reckless driving, often cause accidents, with fatal consequences at times for passengers and bystanders. They need to be reined in. Heavy vehicles moving through the city are a cause of serious traffic congestion. The Karachi nazim has time and again banned the movement of heavy vehicles through the city during morning and evening rush hours, but the ban continues to be defied, ostensibly with active connivance of the city police. As the police gear up to spend millions of rupees on the import and installation of the surveillance cameras, the authorities should note that it will be the enforcement of the traffic rules and regulations — and not the high-tech gadgets per se — that will deter violations and bring some order out of the prevailing traffic chaos and anarchy in the city.