| 04 March 2005 | Friday | 22 Muharram 1426 |
Primacy of relief operations
Petrol price hike
The Country Assistance Plan report released on Tuesday in Islamabad seems to have caused quite a stir in government circles. The British high commissioner, who released the report, was called to the foreign office on Wednesday and told that some of his remarks were "unwarranted and inaccurate, besides being an infringement of diplomatic norms."
The foreign office tried to downplay Mr Mark Lyall Grant's comments, and implied in a statement later released that the British envoy might have been misquoted. It is quite possible that Mr Grant was misquoted - or out of context, as he insisted - but that is not the real issue; the real issue is the plain-speaking done by the CAP report itself.
Prepared by Britain's Department for International Development, the report contained scathing criticism of Pakistan's management of the economy. It points to the lack of progress on many of the government's stated objectives and its failure to achieve vital socio-economic targets.
Poverty reduction, on which this government and those preceding it have placed so much emphasis, seems to have made no progress. As the CAP report correctly points out, there are powerful and deep-rooted obstacles standing in the way of poverty reduction and an economic breakthrough.
Any observer of the Pakistan scene must be appalled by the fact that even nearly five decades after independence, the land-ownership pattern has remained unchanged, and that the cosmetic land reforms carried out by the Ayub and Bhutto regimes did not break the back of feudalism.
The result has been the absence of an emerging and powerful middle class that could have a vital stake in the development of democratic institutions and the evolution of a liberal, multi-cultural, political and social milieu.
Instead, our elected institutions are dominated by the feudal class which, in league with obscurantist elements, believes in perpetuating the socio-economic status quo. The military governments also did a great disservice to the nation by holding elections to parliament and municipalities on a non-party basis.
This served to strengthen ethnic, religious and parochial loyalties. Feudal lords and tribal chieftains also feel threatened by mass education and have contrived in various ways to keep the people illiterate. However, what appears to have piqued the establishment most is the report's reference to the military's increasing involvement in the economy. As reported in the press, Mr Grant pleaded for making economists in charge of development instead of "any of its (government's) arms, including the military".
Whether Mr Grant was misquoted here is immaterial, but even this "misquote" contains some truth, for one is appalled to note the way the military has taken over civilian functions and intruded into almost every sphere of civil life.
Reserving a quota of jobs for ex-servicemen is one thing; flooding departments and corporations with serving officers quite another. The military now controls entities handling electricity, water and sewerage, and its corporate sector is constantly increasing, for it is now in such things as food manufacturing and real estate, including fabulous housing schemes.
To what extent all this commercial activity is compatible with the armed forces' professionalism is anybody's guess. Not only does this militate against a professional outlook, the close contact with the public has added to corruption.
Although the CAP report acknowledges this government's efforts to control graft, it points out that audit and public accounts committees are weak. The government should address these fundamental national problems instead of feeling hurt when the truth is told.
Primacy of relief operations
Bouts of what meteorologists call "freak" weather have continued to cause death and destruction in parts of the country. Worst affected are the coastal and northern districts of Balochistan and many remote parts of the NWFP.
Flash floods and heavy rains in the last three days have claimed 20 lives in the Qilla Abdullah, Chaman and Chaghai areas of Balochistan. In Gwadar, a dam has overflowed, bringing a vast area under water and cutting off road and air links with the distant port city.
It is of some relief to note that timely action taken by the Frontier Constabulary and the navy has averted any loss of life there; so far 5,000 villagers have been evacuated from flooded areas and moved to safety.
But those living in the northern districts of Balochistan as well as in Kohistan, Swat, Dir and Mansehra in the Frontier have not been as lucky. Three people have died in the NWFP, with 5,448 houses reportedly collapsing in the last three days alone.
Many affected areas remain cut off, roads have been blocked for days now, communication lines are down and essential supplies are running low. The UN relief coordination agency in Pakistan has lamented the lack of efforts by the government as well as international relief agencies to come to the help of the stricken people.
All told, heavy rain, snow and flash floods have played havoc with life and property in many parts of the country this winter, but the government's response to disaster-like situations everywhere has left much to be desired.
Often it has remained confined to hurried visits by VIPs, including the president and the prime minister, which many in affected areas believe hampered and delayed rather than expedited relief operations.
People stuck in remote affected areas are said to be in desparate need of tents, blankets, medicines, food and drinking water, but road closures have prevented these relief goods from reaching them.
Immediate provisions must be made to airdrop relief supplies to those marooned or isolated, and this will need to be kept up until roads are cleared and communications restored.
Petrol price hike
The government's decision to raise prices of petroleum products by about 1.5 per cent comes after the rise in international oil prices over the past week. Petrol prices have been registering an increase ever since the government did away with a price freeze that was in effect from May to December 2004.
What is significant, however, is that petroleum prices at home have risen by over 30 per cent from January 2004 while international oil prices doo not reflect the same trend. This again brings into question the oil pricing system being followed by petroleum companies in Pakistan to determine local prices on a fortnightly basis.
Even the minister for petroleum has said at a press conference that he wanted to see a more transparent system to fix prices. The move to raise petroleum prices will mean windfall profits for oil companies but for the common citizen it will push up the cost of living.
The rise has a much wider impact than the weight age given to it in the Consumer Price Index. Such hikes affect almost everything as petrol is used in transportation of commodities as also in the production of a number of goods.
What is worrying is that the rise in transport fares and the prices of essential commodities will in many cases be disproportionate to the actual increase. The worst sufferers are the middle class and lower income groups.
Official figures indicate that essentials like vegetables, milk, fruit and medicines have already registered an increase over the past quarter as inflation continues to creep up.
The challenge for the government is to ensure that a fair mechanism is in place to fix petrol prices. In addition, more needs to be done to check profiteering by shopkeepers so that people do not suffer unduly in the wake of petrol price hikes.