| June 27, 2003 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 26,1424 |
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Tariq Ali and Pakistan
Menace of extremism
Middle East roadmap
PIA: difference in attitude
Lahore railway station
Lead-free gasoline
‘Sex on the net’
Economic growth
Graduate
Annual report of universities
KAMAL MASUD Director Public Relations, Pakistan Railways, Lahore Palo Alto, CA, USA
THE steel sector development based on local iron ore is of great national importance because of its enormous socio-economic benefits to the people of all the provinces, besides substantial forex savings. Unfortunately, the feasible steel-making projects based on Kalabagh and Nokkundi iron ores have been shelved, and the Pakistan Steel based on imported iron ore will be expanded from its existing installed production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes per year (mtpy) to 3.0 mtpy.
It will entail increase in import of iron ore from 1.8 to over 5.5 million tonnes per year from far-off countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, with much increased permanent forex burden on the poor nation and, also, expansion of Port Qasim facilities to handle this huge quantity.
The PIDC had already received technical and financial offers from some European countries for the Kalabagh steel mill and, by early 1968, it had selected and tested the mill site with about 80 per cent raw materials available within 11 miles radius, when in April 1968 Gen Ayub Khan accepted the Russian offer for the Kalabagh project, and not for the Pakistan Steel based on imported iron ore.
The Kalabagh and Nokkundi iron ore projects were transferred from the PIDC to the Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation during the 1970s for further necessary action. The corporation deviated from its assigned national role of development of the steel sector on an all-Pakistan basis and, practically, concentrated only on the Pakistan Steel. Consequently, no effective organization exists since the ‘70s to develop the steel sector on an all-Pakistan basis. This colossal national loss warrants an early remedial action by the authorities concerned.
A brief comparison of the Kalabagh steel mill project with the Pakistan Steel will be of interest to all concerned. After producing 5,000 tonnes of quality steel from 15,000 tonnes of Kalabagh iron ore in Germany, M/s Salzgitter of Germany offered in 1967 to set up the Kalabagh steel mill of 0.815 mtpy production capacity at a cost of Rs1.54 billion, including foreign exchange cost of Rs878 million.
In comparison, the Pakistan Steel with an installed capacity of 1.1 mtpy was commissioned at a cost of Rs24.7 billion, followed by further investments and losses, produced on the average 0.792 mtpy during the last 15 years (based on 72 per cent capacity utilization during the last 15 years as mentioned in a Min. of I. & P. publication of 2003). As such, it is quite fair and logical to expect the Pakistan Steel to prove its technical and financial viability through satisfactory performance for at least five years before consideration of its expansion.
The Newsweek (Feb 24, 1992) and The News International (April 6, 1991) reported preference for state-of-the-art mini-steel mills for being cost-effective as compared to investment in the old, large steel mills with outdated technologies and worn-out machinery. The actual cost-effectiveness of mini-steel mills must have been well-known by now. As such, this preference deserves evaluation in consultation with the leading manufacturers of steel mills machinery to ascertain whether it is in the national interest to expand the Pakistan Steel based on imported iron ore or to opt for steel mills of the latest technologies based on local iron ores.
According to Dawn of June 18, 1994, the ministry of finance raised objections to the expansion plan of the Pakistan Steel saying that it was not viable and may give Pakistan Steel a monopolistic hegemony in the country’s steel market. According to an earlier press report, the finance secretary had objected to the expansion proposal with reference to Rs1.2 billion annual bank interest paid by the government because of inability of the Pakistan Steel to pay. It is not known whether these serious objections to Pakistan Steel expansion are still valid or clarified in the feasibility study report which justifies Pakistan Steel expansion in the national interest.
It is in the national interest to develop the steel sector, including the Pakistan Steel, based on local iron ores and, also, coal if possible, as it is the best way to develop more than one source of steel at locations favourable to downstream industries in each province which will provide far greater and ever increasing socio-economic benefits to the people of all the provinces.
ENGR M. AKRAM NIAZI
Rawalpindi
THIS is with reference to the article by Mr F. S. Aijazuddin, “Rights of admission reserved” (June 23), and his remarks about Tariq Ali being wooed by Z. A. Bhutto.
I remember reading a comment in a British newspaper about a Karachi demonstration that was dispersed by the police using steel-tipped staffs and tear-gas. After watching it, the paper’s correspondent wrote that, compared to what was happening in Pakistan, the anti-Vietnam war demonstrations in Britain were child’s play.
What was going on in Pakistan, he said, was the people’s revolt against a military dictatorship. It was a serious affair. And how right the British journalist was!
In Britain, if you demonstrate against the government, you become a hero. No harm to your body; you are not arrested. You get media attention, and you enjoy life.
After enjoying this picnic party, Tariq Ali came to Pakistan at a time when a revolution was going on against Ayub Khan. Demonstrating against the government meant arrest, beating, rotting in jail. Tariq Ali toured all over Pakistan, found no response from the student community and returned to Britain without having achieved anything or even being noticed by the people of Pakistan.
The students of Pakistan were themselves leading the struggle against Ayub, and Bhutto was their hero. Student demonstrators were being beaten up, arrested and stuffed in jail. Many were killed in police firing. Ultimately, Ayub was overthrown — not by Tariq Ali but by the might of the people led by Bhutto.
A giant like Bhutto, who ultimately paid with his life for opposing the military, feudal and religious establishment, would hardly have wasted his time on a London agitator, for whom ”struggle” meant walking hand in hand with Vanessa Redgrave and getting media attention. Bhutto wanted around him men who could take on the military dictatorship, rot in jail or even get killed.
Tariq Ali is a chocolate cream ”revolutionary” full of criticism of every government, every institution, and every individual but without having anything positive.
YASSIN RIZWAN
Karachi
THE most recent example of bad politics can be seen again in the NWFP where mullahs are trying to assert themselves by adopting the fundamental and static ideas of the erstwhile Taliban government. Unfortunately, these people are not doing any good for the nation and will, in the absence of intellectual foresight, bring doom and gloom back to Pakistan. Why don’t these mullahs leave politics and just practise religion if they are that keen on it? Why mix religion and politics?
I, along with my many friends here in London, would request Gen Pervez Musharraf to act and curb these fanatics who are not good for the well-being and economic prosperity of our beloved nation. The Father of the nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, never wanted a fundamentalist state; his vision was of a state where Muslims could live free of oppression and embargoes and practise the religion without fear, but where non-Muslims could also live according to their beliefs.
Pakistan can survive only when we are moderate, literate and socially and internationally sensible. We have to open our arms to the world and not shut ourselves in a cocoon of self-destruction.
MUEEN MUFTI
London, UK
AFTER ruining Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of peace, President George W. Bush started working on the roadmap for the Middle East. He made Ariel Sharon agree to withdraw from some outposts in the West Bank and persuaded the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to end armed struggle for a state. President Bush seems to be delighted over the new settlement of peace in the Middle East.
The roadmap developed by the “Global Peace Provider” promises the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the first time accepted that the outposts captured are unauthorized.
The question arises: will the ‘Global Peace Provider‘ be able to bring about peace in the Middle East? How much is the roadmap helpful for the liberation of Palestine?
ZIAULLAH KHAN
Rawalpindi
I TRAVELLED on an economy class ticket, on a full economy, free seating flight No. PK/FG252 from Kabul to Islamabad on June 19. On boarding the plane I expressed my desire to sit in the front section which had many unoccupied seats. At first I was told that those were Business Class seats, then the executive class and finally that they were first class seats, and that I could not sit on these seats and as such in the front section.
I explained to the cabin crew that that was a full economy class flight and since it was free seating, I had the right to sit anywhere I wished, or else they should have allotted me a seat number. One of the stewards, Mr Waqar, flexing his muscle threatened me that he would not allow me to sit in the front section, and that he has obtained permission from the captain to stop me from sitting on the seat where I wanted to, and that it was because some Afghan minister(s) were sitting in the front section.
There was nothing I could do. I refused to accept the snacks/meal served by the crew, and told them that if I was not fit enough to sit with the minister(s), I was not fit enough to eat the meal that the minister(s) were having. That did not bother them.
I am not sure if stopping a passenger (by a threat of physical force) from sitting on a particular unoccupied seat on a free seating flight is flouting the IATA rules, but I am sure about one thing, that not allowing a passenger to sit on a seat because a certain minister is sitting nearby is discrimination and nothing else.
By the way, on my flight from Islamabad to Kabul on Airana Afghan Airline on June 15, I was sitting just next to the Afghan minister for “martyrs and disabled”, Mr Abdullah Wardak, and none of the crew knew about it, and even if they did, they did not make it a big deal.
Thank you PIA, for your hospitality and high-handedness.
Karachi
THIS is with reference to a letter published in your issue of June 24 regarding the Lahore railway station.
The letter is amazing because the writer has held the Pakistan Railways responsible for the shortcomings which do not come within its purview. There is no doubt that when a person comes to the railway station, he has to pass through a great mess of traffic. He also looks at the heaps of garbage. But this must be understood that to manage the traffic around the station is not the responsibility of the railways administration, nor is it its duty to remove the heaps of garbage from the road-side. This is the job of the city government.
Now about the security measures: the luggage of every passenger is checked at the entrance with modern electronic gadgets. Inside the station, the railways policemen are deputed on a regular basis along with a 15-rescue kiosk round the clock.
Sanitation on the platform is exemplary and all the platforms are now tough-tiled. This has given a new look to the Lahore railway station. There are no unauthorized stalls on any platform. A few stalls are there owned by some multi-national companies.
The reservation and booking at the counters are managed by the Pakistan Railways Advisory and Consultancy Services (PRACS). They are as good and modern as anywhere in the world.
NASRULLAH GHILZAI
THESE days a campaign for lead-free or unleaded gasoline has been aggressively launched through advertisements by oil marketing companies (OMC). After a careful study I have found that it is merely a device to capture the gasoline market. The so-called environmentalists have already dented our economy to the tune of billions annually and made Pakistan a dumping ground of old junk compressors by promoting CNG under the garb of environment.
If you put 90 RON gasoline in the engine, which is engineered for 80 RON, no enhancement in the performance is going to be there. The fact is that, under the myth of deregulation, the gasoline ex-refinery price has been jacked up by $90 per MT, approximately Rs3.8 per litre. This can be cross-checked by Rs8.97 per litre (international price) Parco received when it began to export gasoline. During this period the ex-refinery price for Karachi refinery remained Rs12.45-13.8 per litre.
If one calculates the net to Parco after port charges and freight of carrying this gasoline from Multan, it was getting only 60 per cent of the value of crude oil it was refining. The way out was to market the gasoline within Pakistan and push the competitors out. The other refineries have outdated reformers and cannot make 90 RON whereas Parco can with its CCR Reformer. As a result, the Karachi refineries will be compelled to export their gasoline by degrading it to naphtha. It has done so by colluding with the UNDP and, if not stopped, will make diesel sulphur more stringent from 1 per cent to 0.5 per cent .
This will not only have implications for domestic refineries but will also increase our diesel import bill by $40 million. The price differential is of $8 and we import nearly five million tons of diesel. India, China and Russia will continue to pump sulphur-dioxide many times more than the total fuel we consume and due to its long sustainable life will affect us directly whereas we will be paying $40 million extra. The way Parco has been running the policies vis-a-vis the petroleum sector during the past three years, it seems it has the right connections.
IFTIKHAR MARWAT
Peshawar
I FULLY agree with Mr M. Shaban Rafi’s views regrading “Sex on the net” (June 25).
The Internet cafes are certainly providing countless youths with an easy access to pornographic material, thus leaving a bad impact on them. Although the Internet has certainly become the most important medium to communicate nowadays, its misuse by our youths is both condemnable and harmful.
Parents should keep an eye on their wards and should not let them go out late in the night. I request the authorities concerned to take the necessary steps to block all pornographic websites before it is too late.
The government should make sure that the Internet is used to gather information only.
M. FARHAN SIDDIQI
Karachi
WE in South Asia are always trying to see the tip of our nose. The Americans think 10 or 20 years ahead. All of Asia is where the future economic growth is going to be in 20 years. Asia needs energy, lots of it, to make it happen. It is relatively easy to transport oil from the Middle East in huge tankers. Natural gas is another story. Imagine in 5-10 years natural gas being transported from the Middle East to South Korea. The construction activity alone will make the world economy boom 100 times more than the dot.com boom.
The transit income of South Asia will be more than 10-20 billion dollars a year. The per-capita income of South Asia will at least quadruple in today’s dollar, if not more.
We have to stop thinking as if we are still in the 10th century. Let us stop bickering and get on with bringing South Asia into the 21st century and beyond.
GOPI SARAF
I endorse the views expressed by Mr Alim Khan in his letter, “To be a graduate” (June 22).
This is a fit case for the chief justice of Sindh High Court to take suo motu notice of the incident and sue the MPA for burning the budget papers as it has hurt the feelings of many Pakistanis.
M. S. LODHIA
Karachi
THIS refers to your editorial titled “More funds for universities” (May 23). More funds are good, but merely handing them over to the university administrations will not guarantee achievement of the desired goals. Specific criteria and preconditions should be set for the universities to receive the funds.
When the nation spends huge amounts on education, it would like to know what results have been achieved. Therefore, it is suggested that each university publish an annual report regarding its financial condition and educational achievements.
The annual report should cover the following areas:
1) The number of DScs., PhDs, MPhils, etc., produced;
2) The number of books, research papers, articles and case studies published;
3) The number of seminars, conferences, workshops, etc., organized and specific results achieved through them;
4) Papers published in international journals;
5) Upgradation of the faculty;
6) Upgradation of educational and other facilities such as the libraries, the number of magazines and books purchased (and those lost), laboratories, hostels, sports grounds, staff housing, etc.
7) Extra-curricular activities, debates, dramas, sports, etc.;
8) Plans, both long-term and short term.
9) Important decisions of the senate (or syndicate), and the vice-chancellor;
10) And the most important part of the annual report would be the applied research of the university, i.e. research undertaken to solve the nation’s problems. Universities should lead the nation in developing and proposing sound solutions which the policymakers may then adopt.
Such reports would inform the taxpayers as to how their money is being utilized. They would also become a permanent record that can be used to gauge progress over the years.
The most fashionable topic today is IT, and every educational institution and university is claiming it has an excellent IT programme. How many of them have computerized their accounting systems, libraries, student records, research papers and publications? This should be made compulsory for all universities. The libraries of all the universities should be interlinked through the computer.
Specific budgets for each faculty and function should be set up, and funds released according to the achievement in each area. Otherwise, funds for libraries may be spent on sports; funds for research, on purchase of furniture, etc., and after five/10 years there will be complaints that enhanced funds have been wasted and nothing achieved.
JALEES AHMED FARUQUI
Karachi
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