| 18 June 2004 | Friday | 29 Rabi-us-Saani 1425 |
The cost of attestation
Unjust distribution of water
2.5 million legal cases
Making the budget friendlier
Terrorism in Karachi
'Severe setback to tourism'
Pakistan Steel
Planetarium
PTCL's reply
Important issues
Foreign coach
Clarification
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Water is a precious commodity which is getting scarcer with the passage of time due to the increasing demand of the world's growing population, industry and agriculture. It is predicted that wars will be fought for the control of natural water resources such as rivers, lakes and glaciers.
One source of water available in summer, when the demand for water is the greatest, remains largely untapped. This is water of condensation produced in the air conditioning/ refrigeration process.
As every student of science knows, when warm, humid air is cooled, moisture in the air is condensed (distilled). Like rainwater, this is the purest form of water without any salts, harmful bacteria or other contaminants.
By a conservative estimate, there are at least a million air conditioners, refrigeration plants, chillers, etc., operating in the cities. An air conditioner of one-ton capacity condenses at least one gallon of water in eight hours of operation.
The combined production of all air conditioners in the country, therefore, amounts to one million gallons a day. Each summer, from April to September, 180 million gallons of pure, safe, potable water is available as a free-of-cost by product of the air conditioning process.
A desalination plant with a capacity of one million gallons of water a day would cost millions of dollars to build and millions of rupees annually to run while the water from condensation is not only wasted by being allowed to drip all over the place, it also creates insanitary conditions, causes damage to concrete structures, paint, corrosion in metal and discomfort to pedestrians.
If this water is hygienically collected in a clean container, it can be used for potable purposes (it is safer than tap water and even some brands of bottled water), for topping up car radiators and batteries (most of the so-called distilled water available at petrol pumps is plain tap-water containing various salts and impurities which cause scale formation inside the radiator, engine and batteries, reducing their efficiency), and for washing, gardening, etc.
The water can be collected in a container using a length of plastic pipe attached to the AC drain spout. The cost of pipe and container is approximately Rs150 and that too is non-recurring as both will last several years.
By collecting and using this water we can save an equal quantity of municipal water which may reduce, to some extent, the chronic water shortage every summer and the human suffering associated with it.
ASIF JAH
Karachi
The cost of attestation
A friend called me from the UAE to get a certificate attested from the UAE embassy in Islamabad. Considering it a simple task, I told him to send it by mail. On the third day, the certificate arrived by mail. It already bore stamps/attestations from the Pakistan embassy in the UAE and the ministry of foreign affairs camp office in Karachi.
I twice sent the certificate to the UAE embassy, but the bearer could not get the job done because of some procedural difficulties. However, he brought some useful information.
First, an educational certificate had to be attested by the inter-board chairman committee of the education ministry. The certification from the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) camp office was not acceptable.
It had to be attested by the MoFA, Islamabad office. The document must be accompanied by a Rs1,500 pay order, which should only be from the Union Bank with which the embassy maintains its account.
Attestations from the two ministries cost me Rs300. A Union Bank branch was approached to prepare a Rs1,500 pay order. For this service, it charged Rs600, saying if one had an account with the bank, the charges would be Rs100.
Finally, my staff made it to the window of the counter after spending five hours in the queue. He submitted the lone certificate after paying Rs300 as handling charges to the courier company.
The embassy took a few days to attest the certificate affixed with a Dh50 revenue stamp. The certificate came back through the same route. The attestation had the following statement: "This Embassy is not responsible for the contents of the document." If no one is ready to take the responsibility of the contents, then what was all the fuss about?
Now here comes the catch. I only had one certificate for attestation. In total, I paid Rs2,700. There were many in the queue with multiple documents (nikkahnama, birth certificates, etc.) and if you have more than one document to attest, then for each document you attach a separate pay order. For every pay order you pay Rs600 as service charges to the bank. One pay order for several documents is not acceptable.
The foreign ministry should take up the matter with our UAE friends. I am sure they would give it sympathetic consideration. Even if the requirement of attestation is kept mandatory, the financial burden should be minimized. Meanwhile, the State Bank should clarify why it allows charging Rs600 on a pay order of Rs1,500.
KHAWAR AHSAN
Islamabad
Unjust distribution of water
A Dawn report (June 15) based on Indus River System Authority (Irsa) statistics has made the startling disclosure that seven million acre feet of water went missing from the distribution system between April 1 and June 10 this year.
It is a huge body of water that equals the total storage capacity of some of the planned mega dams. It is mind-boggling how such a massive water theft could have taken place under the eyes of Irsa, Wapda and irrigation department officials. It may be noted that these figures are only for 70 days. Who knows what has been going on during the rest of the year?
This revelation will certainly hamper any efforts aimed at confidence building among the provinces to agree on a 'national water policy' if there is ever going to be one. This has happened when the lower riparian province is facing a devastating water shortage for irrigation and drinking.
The Sindh finance minister during his budget speech said an acute drought in the province had reduced irrigated land by over 40 per cent. Earlier, the former irrigation secretary in his briefing to the parliamentary water committee had disclosed that Punjab and Sindh did not share the water shortage equitably as required under the 1991 Water Accord.
He said that during the first two and half months of the current Kharif season, Punjab had suffered a water shortage of up to 34 per cent while Sindh faced a water shortage of up to 57 per cent.
Another matter of grave concern is the mysterious 50 per cent transmission losses between Chashma and Guddu barrages. Historically losses have never been more than 20 per cent. Irsa, Wapda and the federal government have failed to determine the causes of this unprecedented loss. Would anybody please let the people know what is going on here?
AZIZ NAREJO
Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
2.5 million legal cases
This has reference to the Dawn report "Nearly 2.5m cases pending before judiciary" (May 22). The concluding para of the report is encouraging. It has been stated by officials that the NJPMC (National Judicial Policy-Making Committee), headed by the chief justice of Pakistan, will be carrying out an annual performance review of all the courts to improve their capacity and performance for the administration of justice.
Recently, the Sindh High Court and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court had to warn the public prosecutors to be diligent and fair in filing criminal appeals in the superior courts against judgments of the lower courts and tribunals, for the reason that inadequate and insufficient evidence leads to acquittal.
Fake and fictitious cases are also filed on the grounds of personal vendetta and rivalries. Transfer of property cases, inheritance, easement, adverse possession, rent laws and right of pre-emption are filed in abundance.
The law of arbitration may help decide cases by arbitration. Special arbitration courts may be constituted, to be presided over by two arbitrators and one umpire drawn from the members of bar associations, to decide cases while sitting across the desk with litigants and without going for personal evidence, witnesses and cross-examination thereof.
Only documentary evidence should be placed by litigants. The award of the arbitration passed with an amicable and mutual understanding must be made applicable. And the cost (fees) of arbitration should be affordable/ payable by all litigants in equal proportion/share.
GHEEWALA A.G.M.
Karachi
Making the budget friendlier
Budget 2004-05 as a whole is claimed to be 'people-friendly', but I have some reservations and would like to suggest the following:
1. The prices of everyday items such as flour, rice, sugar, vegetables, oil, ghee, meat and fish should be reduced by at least 15 per cent. It will be 'friendly' for the people.
2. For the middle class, duties on motorcycles should be reduced.
3. The government has announced that the investment limit for special savings schemes for pensioners and widows has been increased from Rs1 million to Rs2 million, but senior citizens have been ignored. For them, the limit should also be increased to Rs2 million.
4. The finance minister and the CBR chairman should immediately take action to resolve the issue of the CVT (Capital Value Tax) imposed on the stock exchange which has strong reservation from stock exchange brokers and dealers. We noticed that more than 166 points dropped in the Karachi stock market in a day, which is alarming.
Although the board of investment chairman has set up a committee, the issue should be addressed as priority number one, otherwise our stock exchange may suffer further. If the CVT has to be imposed, it should be rationalized after discussion and consensus with the stock exchange management and brokers.
M. OZAIR AZAM
Karachi
Terrorism in Karachi
Maher was ousted and Arbab was made Sindh chief minister a week ago. The very next day the motorcade of the Karachi corps commander was ambushed by terrorists, causing about a dozen deaths. The corps commander escaped miraculously.
When the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies cannot properly guard the route of a VVIP, how can an ordinary citizen feel safe? A mere change of political faces would not do any good. Effective measures are required to tackle the intricate law and order problems of Karachi in particular and of the country in general.
Before things become harder to control, the authorities should call a meeting of all heads of political and religious parties and tribal leaders, including those from Fata, Gilgit and other tribal agencies, and discuss all issues about security.
DR ZAINAB RIZVI
Lahore
'Severe setback to tourism'
This is in response to the article "Severe setback to tourism" (June 16) by Omar R. Quraishi which takes an informative and objective look at the miserable state of tourism in our country, a country that is the caretaker of some of the most world's amazing natural beauty.
However, I would like to clarify a few points:
a. "Surfing the Northern Frontier" the trip and filming was funded by me, not by National Geographic.
b. The programme first ran on A1 (Adventure One) and now on National Geographic. It will continue its world tour for the next two years and we are proud of this effort.
c. Apart from PTV and ARY which made the effort to give the programme a mention, I am sad to say that some others did not even have the decency to respond to our promo tapes sent to them.
d. I have world rights to this footage and am in the process of looking for sponsors to offer this as a part of a series on Pakistan, the basis of which is local as well as selective international promotion.
e. The highest lake I windsurfed on was Karambar Lake which is about 4,300 metres high, the second highest was Sheosar and the lowest was Sirkhan Jui at 3,800 metres.
f. Our exercise put Pakistan on the world map of high altitude lakes. (See http://www.highestlake.com/highest-lake-world.html)
g. Although the Guinness Book of World Records took our money "for research purposes", they said they did not have a "category" for this record. (We believe that for the parameters set for this adventure, it has never been done before in the world.)
As far as promoting Pakistan is concerned, there is very little positive effort our country makes on a sensible platform. Internally or externally, we make substandard efforts that have no foresight or real planning behind concepts and ideas. Most of our officials and people in a position to do something are inexperienced and lack exposure in such matters.
For example, I went to a soft drink manufacturer in Lahore for a sponsorship option for the NG programme. The headman told me that they were only interested in promoting "idols" and that I obviously did not fit into that category.
If such educated Pakistanis in such powerful and positive places have such concepts and mindsets, why waste our energies lambasting a few misdirected politicians and their minions?
I have overcome the attitude "What can one person do?", as have some other dedicated people among us, in promoting and saving Pakistan. That is the only way forward. If the system is not working for you, stop moaning and do the best you can.
NISAR MALIK
Islamabad
Pakistan Steel
This is with reference to the radio news conference by the chairman of Pakistan Steel, Lt-Gen (R) Abdul Qayyum, where he claimed to have transformed PS into a profitable organization. He also assured everybody that there would be no further retrenchment in his organization.
Unfortunately, in the past as many as 9,000 employees were forced to leave PS. This brought misery to their dependents totalling nearly 45,000 people. Similarly, nine workers were burnt to death owing to the use of substandard material.
Since unemployment is at around nine per cent in Pakistan, it is the duty of public sector organizations, including Pakistan Steel, not to aggravate this problem. General Qayyum's statement on this score is, thus, reassuring.
He also talked about political interference which caused financial losses to PS. This interference also hurt some businessmen. Some of them went to jail for no reason, even though they used to pay huge sums in taxes. They were made scapegoats.
If such wrongdoings were committed in the past in PS, General Qayyum will be well-advised to eliminate them.
K. MURAD BEY
Karachi
Planetarium
I had the opportunity to visit this grand building covering huge valuable land on Ferozepur Road, Lahore. I was shown a documentary in an amazingly interesting atmosphere, but to my surprise and disappointment there was no mention of the nine planets.
Maybe the documentary was recorded before their discovery. Also, the event started with a dragging chorus not less than 20 years old. Another ridiculous aspect was a visit to the PIA airplane, which was not worth a penny, let alone Rs60. Anyway, the basic idea is wonderful and there is great room for improvement now.
Would those in authority take some action and provide up-to-date, informative activity to children in vacations this summer?
AZRAM ASLAM
Lahore
PTCL's reply
This is apropos of the letter by Mr Muhammad Yaqub (June 12). The PTCL would like to clarify that only PTA-approved pay card companies are providing the PCO facility to the public in Muzaffargarh.
Development work for the expansion of 2,000 lines in the town is under process. The telephone facility in Khawaja Farid Colony and other city areas will be extended on completion of the 2,000-line cable network.
Besides, a new wireless local loop (WLL) telephone facility of 2,500 lines will be made available in Muzaffargarh and its suburbs. After the expansion programme, all pending demands for new telephone connections will be met. The PTCL is sorry for any inconvenience caused.
IMRAN HAIDER GARDEZI PRO,
PTCL (MTR), Multan
Important issues
Ardesher Cowasjee and Ayaz Amir are particular to point out our domestic shortcomings in a very analytical manner, but they miss out on the sub-human treatment meted out to Muslims in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, etc.
I have yet to see an article by these writers giving details of the egregious conduct of the US/UK in the execution of their hegemonic designs. Nato, the EU and the G-8 countries, through the UN, the World Bank and the WTO and under the garb of democracy, freedom and aid, are strengthening their economies.
Could any writer of Dawn highlight and evaluate the legally untenable, cold-blooded and ruthless aggression, mass murders, atrocities and destruction carried out by western powers? Trade rules adopted by them are suffocating, and sucking the blood of the downtrodden people of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. To what extent they, through their space technology, gain access to classified information of underdeveloped countries is another issue of concern.
M. TARIQ
Lahore
Foreign coach
We have come across a situation where we do not have any local coach for our cricket team. It is due to our psychological problem of preferring foreign things or imported things to the locals.
I think the president and the PCB chairman can at least help us get rid of this psychological problem. We still have time to appoint a local coach. I request the authorities to review the decision.
KHALID MUSTAFA
Islamabad
Clarification
Apropos of the letter "Link road a shambles" (May 28), the National Highway Authority would like to clarify that the road does not belong to it. Therefore, the question of charging toll tax by the NHA and use of this money does not arise.
SAMINA WAQAR
Director, Public Relations, NHA, Islamabad
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