| 14 December 2004 | Tuesday | 01 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
The use of LNG
Rules for blood banks
Arab diplomats and the American secretary of state understandably differed over the weekend on the question of reforms. The joint statement issued at the end of the meeting at Rabat admitted that the Arab world must liberalize, but made it clear that first there must be a settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
This was not what Mr Colin Powell wanted. Speaking at the conference, Mr Powell said reforms could not be delayed because of "these other issues". By the other issues, he meant what Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called "the longest conflict in modern history" and Israeli policies in the occupied territories.
The Saudi diplomat said the Arab world understood America's security guarantees to Israel, but what it could not understand was why those guarantees were not used to restrain Israel from its policies in the West Bank and Gaza.
The final statement seemed a compromise: it called for a settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, while at the same time affirming the need for reforms. The statement said the reforms must go "hand in hand" with a just and lasting settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Most observers of the Middle East scenario agree that Israel and its expansionist policies have played a major role in stunting the socio-economic and political growth of the Arab world.
In fact, even before Israel came into being in 1948, the attention of the Arab world was diverted towards coping with the implications of the Jewish settlement activity and accommodating the Palestinian refugees displaced by Jewish settlers coming from Europe.
Since then there have been three wars - in 1956, 1967 and 1973 - besides Israel's invasion of Lebanon (1982). Thus all the energy of the Arab peoples has been focussed on meeting these crisis situations.
As for political liberalization, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa correctly pointed out that reforms could take place only when there was regional peace. This peace has eluded the Middle East because of Israel's repeated acts of aggression against its neighbours and America's unqualified support for its expansionist policies.
This way, the Arab diplomats at the Rabat meeting were right when they asked the US to address the main cause that breeds extremists in the Middle East. The US, if it is really sincere in seeing democratic reforms in the Arab world, must revive the peace process with a view to ensuring the emergence of a sovereign Palestinian state with Al Quds as its capital.
Nevertheless, all Arab governments must ponder whether or not the lack of reforms has compromised their ability to deal effectively with Israel. Most Arab states are ruled by dictators and monarchs, and dissent is suppressed.
This has served to alienate their own people from their governments. Many Arab governments pursue "moderate" policies which are not altogether unjustified in given circumstances.
But because they do so without involving the people with the formulation of state policies, such governments become suspect in the people's eyes. Arab leaders are undeniably right when they demand that the US should restrain Israel, but at the same time they should not give an impression that they oppose democratic reforms and wish to retain the present unrepresentative systems.
Reforms must indeed be undertaken but they cannot be, as the final statement pointed out, imposed from outside. The example of Iraq is before us.
The use of LNG
The government's move to prepare a 15-year energy security plan based on the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will no doubt help stabilize the country's energy requirements in the long term.
LNG is the fastest growing energy source globally and its prices are expected to be more stable than crude oil prices in the coming decades. Given that Pakistan's natural gas reserves are not expected to last more than 20 years, the government has to opt for substitute fuels, particularly for purposes of power generation.
This will require import of gas through a pipeline from a third country, say Qatar or Turkmanistan, which has to pass through Afghanistan where the security situation remains unhelpful for the present.
While coal reserves discovered in Thar are vast, the utilization of these as an alternative fuel for running industry in an environmentally sound way will take time to materialize. In such a scenario, it is important for the government to plan ahead and put into place a system that is cost effective and workable in the coming years.
Given Pakistan's extensive gas infrastructure, LNG is a natural choice as an alternative fuel although the whole exercise of importing it and having it processed so that it can be used in place of Sui gas would require about billion in investment in processing.
With the rise in international oil prices to record levels in the past few months, the government should encourage the use of natural gas in its various forms for power generation, for using as a transport fuel as well as for domestic use.
Gas is a cheaper and more environment-friendly fuel. Its use will help reduce the oil import bill. Keeping all this in mind, it will be advisable to encourage oil and gas exploration in the country so that more local gas fields are discovered.
LNG supplies can then be used to supplement local gas production so that our fuel needs in the future are met, without the costs and uncertainties involved in growing oil imports.
Rules for blood banks
Following Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad's directive for the enforcement of the relevant regulations, blood banks across the province will have to fall in line with the recommendations of the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority.
The SBTA has of late cracked down with full force on several erring units. Last September, it served closure notices on 49 blood banks in the province after it found them to be in violation of the rules and regulations governing safe blood transfusion.
Considering the way that blood banks - most of them continue to remain unregistered - play with the lives of their patients, one can only appreciate the governor's directive that stresses the possession of legal documents and ISO certification for running a blood bank.
One does not know, however, how soon and how many units will comply with the governor's directive, as most of them are entrenched in a system of their own making where they have no qualms about supplying expired and contaminated blood to patients so long as they continue to make profits.
Small wonder, then, that blood-borne diseases like AIDS, hepatitis B and C and malaria are on the rise as blood is taken from donors without verifying the donor's health background, or screening the product.
If the government continues to keep a strict check and manages to prevent illegal banks from mushrooming in the province, the number of blood units is sure to come down. But to ensure that the remaining units maintain acceptable standards of blood safety, the health authorities must subsidize their costs. A more difficult task is to educate the public about the risks involved in transfusion.
There has to be greater pressure by the patients and their families themselves on labs and blood banks to stick to safe procedures in order to limit the chances of receiving blood contaminated by deadly pathogens.