| 20 October 2004 | Wednesday | 05 Ramazan 1425 |
Ill-advised and wrong
Restricting marriage expenses
Pakistan and China have done well not to allow the killing of the Chinese engineer come in the way of their friendly relations. While President Pervez Musharraf on Monday reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to continued friendship with its north-eastern neighbour, President Hu Jintao in Beijing expressed similar views.
The Chinese president, while thanking Pakistan for making every effort to save the life of the Chinese engineer, asserted that such incidents would not be allowed to harm their bilateral relations. Talking to Mr Tang Jiaxuan, the visiting state councillor from China, President Musharraf said Pakistan would continue cooperation with China against terrorism. This is in keeping with the joint working group established by the two countries in 2001 to fight terrorism.
At the same time, the two sides have reaffirmed their commitment to a full implementation of the "Declaration on Directions of Bilateral Relations" signed in November 2003 when President Musharraf visited China. The same day in Karachi, the federal minister for water and power, Mr Liaquat Jatoi, said Beijing had indicated that it would not scale down the presence of Chinese workers involved with development projects in this country.
The friendship between Pakistan and China is proverbial. It has withstood the test of times - to the annoyance of many. Right from the day when Pakistan established diplomatic relations with China in 1951, the ties between the two countries have grown steadily to become what they are today - a deep understanding of each other's problems and a relationship that has fostered mutual help and cooperation in economic, technical, cultural, diplomatic and security spheres.
What is amazing is that the foundations of their friendly ties were laid at a time when Pakistan was a member of western military pacts. Nevertheless, at Bandung, Prime Ministers Mohamed Ali Bogra and Zhou En-lai struck an understanding that was to serve the two countries well. The two first signed an agreement to demarcate the border between China and Pakistan's Northern Areas. This was followed by an exchange of visits by heads of government. During those years, Pakistan and China were involved in several acute crises and wars, but each time each stood by the other.
Since the late seventies, when the Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping launched its reforms, China has emerged as a major economic power in the world. In terms of purchasing power parity, China's economy is next only to America's. China has also made rapid advances in technology, a symbol of which was the launching of its first manned space flight last year.
This economic and technological power has enabled China to play a greater role in Pakistan's economic development. Among the key projects that have been recently completed with Chinese help is the Chashma power project, while work on Chashma-2 has already begun. Chinese engineers are also helping in the construction of the Gomal dam, the Gwadar harbour, the Saindak copper and gold project, and the Thar coal project. Hundreds of Chinese engineers and experts are working on these projects, and it is the Pakistan government's responsibility to provide them adequate protection.
The killing of three Chinese engineers in May in Gwadar and the recent murder of another Chinese in Waziristan point to the loopholes in Pakistan's security arrangement. While President Musharraf has pledged greater protection to the Chinese nationals in Pakistan, one hopes that those on the spot would be alert to the possibility of a sudden act of terrorism and will not be caught unawares as they were when the two Chinese were kidnapped earlier this month.
Ill-advised and wrong
The federal government's reported directive to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to fix consumer tariffs on the basis of the actual cost involved in a given utility's area of operation is indeed worrying. If implemented, this would mean the abolition of a uniform power tariff throughout the country. Going by the financial health of the utilities involved, this would further translate into higher tariffs for consumers served by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation and those serviced by Wapda's subsidiaries operating in Hyderabad, Quetta and Peshawar regions.
The move will in turn offer reduced power tariffs for Punjab consumers where Wapda's distribution companies seem to be running at a profit. Logically, there may not be much wrong with the formula under consideration, but given political sensitivities among the provinces, this can spell trouble. Already, the lack of an inter-provincial agreement on the national finance commission award and on sharing the Indus river system's water resources has created bad blood among the provinces. There is no need to add to the list of contentious issues, which is exactly what different power tariffs would do, if implemented.
Islamabad's directive to Nepra has apparently come about as a result of the latter requiring the federal government to pick up the tab of Rs14 billion per annum that is needed to cover the shortfall in revenue from power tariffs on account of ill-performing utilities. Which is just as well. Consumers nowhere in the country should be required to pay the price for the government's failure to properly manage public sector utilities.
As it is, consumers have more than their fair share of misery on account of erratic power supply caused by a faulty and outdated distribution system and, in many cases, excessive billing. None of this is due to any fault on consumers' part. It is for Islamabad to plug power theft and line losses - two basic reasons for the rising cost of power - in areas where these are common and preventing utilities from operating profitably. Until it does so, it must continue to offer subsidies to those consumers who do pay their power dues on time.
Restricting marriage expenses
The recommendations by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan in its annual report to reduce wasteful spending at weddings are sensible and ought to be implemented. The commission has said that wedding guests should be kept at a maximum of 300 for any event and that food to be served be restricted to one dish. Another concern is the excessive use of firearms during such events. The commission has recommended that there should be some regulation to check this practice as it causes disturbance and injury.
It is now up to the provincial governments to introduce laws providing for these limits and prohibitions. However, laws cannot have any effect if there is a reluctance to implement them. A good example is the law banning the misuse of loudspeakers in Sindh. This was introduced by the chief minister earlier this year but has had little effect in curbing the problem. This is because the police are reluctant to pursue violators while there is no mechanism in place under which complaints can be received to be acted upon.
In the past, laws prescribing a limit to the money to be spent on weddings were ill conceived and poorly enforced. A previous law banned the serving of food at marriage halls with the result that many people opted to have the ceremony at home. However well-intentioned, such laws are too arbitrary and sweeping in their provisions to prove acceptable and effective.
The restrictions prescribed must be reasonable so as to ensure willing compliance on the part of the people. At the same time, an awareness campaign should be launched through which the social effects of extravagance are highlighted. It is only then that one can expect some reduction in the waste usually associated with weddings and related ceremonies in Pakistan.