| 14 August 2004 | Saturday | 27 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
Sloppy airport services
Appeal to SBP governor
Saving water
Ordeal of getting a passport
Quantum of courses
Remembering the Tasman episode
Builders and broken promises
UK writers & Islam
Useful things
Bangladesh needs our help
Nadra clarification
Power cuts
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Independence Day will be celebrated on August 14 and like every year there will be discussions as to whether we should feel proud of what we have achieved so far. We have yet to decide as to whether we should have a presidential or parliamentary form of government.
Should the army remain in the barracks or help in the running of institutions? Did the Quaid-i-Azam want Pakistan to be a secular or an Islamic country? These are some of the questions among many which we as a nation have to decide and until we do that, the future of the nation is bleak.
In fact, August 14 merely represents a transfer of power from the British to Muslim feudals. We are an agricultural country and a majority of the population lives in the rural areas at the mercy of their landlords. The peasants are treated like serfs.
These landlords are also members of parliament and thus misuse the funds allocated for their areas. They are also against enactment of legislation which will bring a positive change within the country and weaken their hold over the people.
They have their own jirga systems headed by them. They are also against judicial reforms because if these happen, there will be no need for the jirga system, and people will not be at their mercy.
Women who constitute almost 50 per cent of the population have yet to be emancipated. They are not socially and economically independent, nor do the laws of the country provide protection to them.
Laws such as the Hudood ordinance have been effectively used to deprive them of their rights. It is indeed unfortunate that the president, who can single-handedly change the whole constitution on his own and who preaches 'enlightened moderation', has failed to amend this law.
This shows the strength of feudals and extremists within our country. Instead of abolishing feudalism, a new breed of feudals is being created by allocation of land worth millions of rupees to military men.
The country is dependent on foreign loans and no wonder our foreign policy is dependent on countries which provide us with aid. This also explains the U-turn we have made in our foreign policy over the years.
It must be realized that we can never have a foreign policy which suits the interest of the common man unless we stand on our own feet. This can only happen when we get rid of this habit of acquiring loans for development which end up in the pockets of a few individuals.
We have to free the population of the country from feudalism, poverty, unemployment, judicial delays, disease and illiteracy. One should be optimistic but not forget the ground realities.
The reality is that unless we bring forward genuine democratic leaders and direct the army to defend only our borders, there is no hope that we will progress as a nation and every year on August 14 we will regret that a lot could have been done but we choose not to do it.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Karachi
Sloppy airport services
Your editorial 'Sloppy airport services' (August 4) is appropriate. There appears no desire to provide an efficient service to passengers, ensure cleanliness or implement environmental rules.
My wife and I arrived at Karachi airport on the night of July 4 at 10pm; it was almost 11:30pm before we were able to get our passports stamped by the immigration and thence proceed to collect our baggage, which was by then put away in a different area.
There were many people who were still waiting for their turn to go through immigration when we left. Despite several booths, with two computers each, only one person was available at each booth.
People were moved randomly by junior immigration personnel from booth to booth without much progress in getting passengers processed quickly. Much hue and cry was raised by some of the passengers who had been travelling for 24 or more hours to get to Karachi but no superior officer attempted to come and try to pacify the irate and tired passengers.
At 4am on August 5 I had occasion to go to the airport to receive relatives coming from Jeddah. The parking fee has been raised from Rs10 to Rs15. The Jinnah terminal signs in English and Urdu both were only partially lit; the mosquito population in the waiting area was not much unlike what we see at the side entrance of Empress Market.
My guests included two ladies observing hijab; they were moved from booth to booth for "security camera" reasons as a result of which they lost their turn in their first queue.
Should not there be signs posted or a lady worker put to work to assist hijab-observing ladies through to the proper booth for immigration services? It was 6.15am when they came out of immigration though their flight had landed at 4.25am.
MOHAMMED HASAN
Via email
Appeal to SBP governor
Perhaps it was in 1998 or 1999, when the previous SBP governor, Dr M. Yaqub, restrained all banks in Pakistan, including Habib Bank and UBL, from continuing with their "Crore Pati Schemes". HBL and other banks had offered prizes worth crores of rupees through draws on receipts of fixed deposits.
The principal sums of even the unsuccessful depositors were safe as they remained entitled to withdraw the money after the agreed period. Such schemes were declared by the State Bank as unlawful, unfair and repugnant to the banking definition and practices.
Much to our surprise, we find that the Bank of Punjab has launched its "Crore Pati-PDF" scheme, which is nothing but a lottery. I am amazed that despite the massive publicity campaign of this scheme in the electronic and print media, the State Bank has not taken any notice of this.
The Bank of Punjab is openly asking innocent citizens to purchase non-refundable tickets of Rs25 with the promise of prizes through a computerized draw. I hope that the SBP governor will take immediate action in accordance with the law to save the people from further exploitation.
Had the authorities concerned acted vigilantly and promptly in the past, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people would have been saved from the frauds committed by the so-called finance companies and cooperative societies.
IQBAL HAIDER
Karachi
Saving water
It is heartening to note that the city government has planned to replace the 50-year-old water supply pipeline, joints and pumps in Karachi to save at least 100mgd loss of potable water that occurs due to leakage (Dawn, August 2).
Out of the total demand of 594mgd, Karachi faces a shortfall of about 126mgd, which, on completion of the above project, may be covered to a great extent, but at a cost of Rs1.2 billion, and with a large gestation period.
Besides the above measure, we need to educate the people through the print media, NGOs and imams of mosques, and thereby save plenty more water to cater to the irrigation and drinking needs of the people of Sindh, facing an acute water shortage. We have to:
- Keep a close vigil on breach of canals, intentionally by landlords, or through negligence of the irrigation staff;
- Install/enlarge filter plants for the treatment of sewage water, in order to cater to the needs of watering parks and other sanitary use;
- Encourage/facilitate small treatment plants in big houses, having lawns and plants, for treating kitchen water for watering;
- Create awareness among the people to conserve water by repairing their leaking taps and WCs, and economizing on excess use of water in washing clothes, utensils, floors, cars, etc;
- Make it mandatory in the building plan to have a Pakistani WC also in each bathroom, or a separate urinal with a smaller flush tank, so as to save water through excess flushing;
- Introduce/manufacture tapes for bathrooms/kitchens, having direct connections with geyser and cold-water pipelines, so as to save cold water from waste, while in the waiting for the hot water;
- Introduce meter system in all the posh localities, and impose heavy surcharge on use of excess water above the required minimum, so as to discourage the use of suction pumps;
- Eliminate corruption in the water boards and irrigation departments with iron hands.
RAFIUDDIN AHMAD
Karachi
Ordeal of getting a passport
I am a citizen of Pakistan, by birth, with a domicile of Rawalpindi, possessing a national identity card issued by the government of Pakistan from its office in Rawalpindi. My place of duty is near Lahore.
My international passport issued from Lahore expired last month, and in order to get a fresh passport for another five years I visited the Lahore passport office with all the required documents and the passport form dully filled, but to my surprise and shock I was told by the authorities at the Lahore passport office that I can get a passport only from Rawalpindi, as my national identity card has been issued from there. I showed them my previous passport issued by the Lahore passport office, but my arguments were of no use.
Now in order to get one of my basic rights I will have to take an off from my office and travel to Rawalpindi, where I am afraid that the passport office may object that as the previous passport was issued from Lahore the fresh one too has to be issued from there.
I request the authorities concerned through these columns to explain why a citizen of Pakistan cannot get a passport from any city of Pakistan.
AAMIR AQIL
Lahore
Quantum of courses
I am proud to be a student of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), considered a first-rate facility. However, I would request the rector of NUST to reconsider the format of the degree programme. In the span of three and a half years (officially three years), a large quantum of courses is forced upon students.
In such a short duration one can well imagine the quality of education received. Semesters last only as long as the administration deems fit. In effect 17 to 20 credits are awarded in a period of just four to five months.
If this is what a place like NUST has to offer, one can only imagine the situation in other institutions.
DISTRESSED NUSTIAN
Islamabad
Remembering the Tasman episode
August marks one year to the day that the Tasman Spirit, a Greek registered tanker, ran aground in the channel that leads to the main Karachi Port, and spewed thousands of tons of oil onto the shores of Karachi.
Initially, the city fathers as well as the KPT, the main body responsible for the entry of the tanker into the port, remained quiet and tried to cover up the problem.
Then, when the oil began to reach our beaches, all hell broke loose as Pakistani officialdom sprang into action and tried to give the impression that all that could possibly be done was being done.
A month after the incident, investigative reporting (including some reports in this paper) confirmed the worst. That the damage could have been averted or at least minimized if the KPT had acted promptly, that the damage was much more than estimated and that most of the work done by the government was largely window dressing.
A committee formed under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, Mutawakal Kazi, was supposed to have coordinated clean-up efforts for safe and scientific disposal of the toxic elements that had been unleashed.
Today we are no closer to the truth than we were a year back. Despite a public challenge to the KPT chairman to come out and discuss the merits of the progress in this affair, he has decided to stay in the shadows.
We still do not know whose fault it was that the ship ran aground, how much compensation have we received for this environmental disaster, which official has been punished in this regard and what lessons have been learnt from the episode.
We still don't know whether we have an action plan in place to avoid such problems, whether ships of such age have been banned from our waterways and how many people died as a result of the dumping of toxic sand on the outskirts of Karachi without any disposal plan in place.
We have learnt no lessons. I would not be surprised if this incident happens again on our beaches. If anyone should be held responsible over everything else, it is the people of Karachi who simply sat and watched as their city was polluted and scarred.
There has been no citizens' initiative, barring one or two isolated efforts, to collectively ask for answers. There have been no protests or questions asked. People have simply looked the other way.
In such a situation, one can only wonder what could we expect next for our city in the coming years.
NASIM AHMAD KHAN,
Karachi.
Builders and broken promises
I had booked a flat in PECHS in November 1999 for Rs800,000 with. The builders promised that the flat would be handed over to the allottees by June, 2000.
I paid Rs600,000 to the builders till August 2000, while the project was still under construction. The builders, on that occasion, had given the new date of handing over of the flat as March 2002 and promised that in case of failure, they would not only refund the paid amount but also pay the same amount in addition as compensation to make it Rs1.2 million. As a guarantee, they had also signed a surety paper.
However, the builders have not handed over the flat even after a lapse of another two years. Neither have they refunded the paid up money, nor have they paid any compensation.
The builders have also sold other flats of the project to different people on the promise that the lease papers would be given at the time of handing over the possession.
I have invested my entire savings in the hope of owning the flat. I appeal to the relevant authorities to ask the builders to hand over the flat to me or refund my hard-earned money with promised compensation.
HAFIZ HAMID MUJTABA
Karachi
UK writers & Islam
With reference to the article 'Muslims don't want to conquer the world' (Dawn, August 6), Anas Altikriti, also a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, has made an effort to rebut the poison being spewed by many British writers against Islam and Muslims.
The writers who are doing so must be in the dark about the fact that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have evolved with the passage of time from the same monotheistic religion which God bestowed on Prophet Adam.
These writers have conveniently forgotten that the Europeans and the Americans have become wealthy, prosperous and powerful solely because of the cheap oil lying beneath the feet of Muslim nations. This power has gone to their heads and they have become arrogant towards their benefactors.
I appeal to knowledgeable Muslim writers to come forward and rebut the prejudiced views being propagated by these writers from Britain.
JALAL AHMED
Karachi
Useful things
I would like to share with readers some useful things that I learnt from attending a workshop on strategic time management. One suggestion was that women are nation builders, not housewives, Second, that one should work "as if no prayer will help" and pray "as if no work will help".
SANA BARKATALI
Karachi
Bangladesh needs our help
The starving faces of children with their begging bowls on their heads to save them from scorching sun depicts a terrible picture ( photograph, Dawn, August 2).
The families of these hungry children have become homeless, shelterless and penniless on account of unprecedented heavy floods in Bangladesh, submerging two-thirds of the country in water, uprooting more than 30 million people from their homes and depriving them of their crops, cattle and other belongings.
Hardly any country has come forward to their help. It is high time that Pakistan should help Bangladesh, which was part of Pakistan about 30 years ago. Our government should send doctors with medicines as when the flood recedes cholera and other water-borne diseases will spread like wild fire.
The government should also create a Bangladesh fund so that the public can give donations. Mr. Mohammad Ali, formerly from East Pakistan and at present a federal minister here, has already appealed for urgent help to Bangladesh.
MUSHTAQ AHMAD
Lahore Cantt.
Nadra clarification
This has reference to the letter by Mr Ali Gohar (August 10). The applicant complained that he had submitted his wife's CNIC to have her age amended and wanted to bring it in line with the age in her matric certificate.
Due to the efforts involved in constant change in the country's database, especially because of oversights such as mentioned above, it was decided by the authorities to entertain the date of birth change in already prepared CNIC through the courts.
It is, therefore, once again pointed out that the applicant may kindly route the request for change in the date of birth through the courts. The point of reliability and authentication or otherwise of the supporting document was never the issue.
MALIK SHAHNAWAZ KHAR
PRO, Nadra, Islamabad
Power cuts
Every summer, Lahore residents have to put up with frequent power-cuts, whose span is from two to three hours up to eight hours a day at times. The sweltering summer heat is unbearable. The government should ban the use of airconditioners in residential areas during peak hours to ameliorate the situation.
Power-thefts should be checked and people involved in the crime be dealt with an iron hand. Illegal connections should be cut in order to give relief to the people who are paying regularly to WAPDA.
Wapda should not harass the regular payers of electricity bills and replace the defective transformers as early as possible.
SYED BADAR SAEED
Lahore
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