| 07 March 2005 | Monday | 25 Muharram 1426 |
Inflation versus economic growth
Helmets and seatbelt laws
Gas pipeline projects
Two questions
'Facts about the crisis in Balochistan'
Amazing news
Foreign 'experts'
Link road project
Jobs for the disabled
Neglect of Chitral
Delivery of cars
Hate literature
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Mr Zafar Amar's letter (Feb 28) on the above subject in response to my letter speaks volumes for an urgent need for open and in-depth discussion on the subject of building mega-projects in Pakistan. It also demonstrates how the issue has become an emotive one, where rationality has taken leave.
He has completely missed my point on the relationship that I highlighted between the Pasni tragedy and similar risks posed by dams such as Tarbela and Kalabagh.
Again, I would like to draw attention to the fact that if a small dam like Shadi Kaur could wreak such havoc, then can anyone imagine the magnitude of destruction to be wrought by a breach of Mangla, Tarbela or, if it gets built, the Kalabagh Dam?
Interestingly, he has referred to the Tarbela Dam as a success and a feather in the cap of its builders. He laments that General Ayub Khan did not embark on simultaneous construction of Kalabagh. How ironic then that the proponents of Kalabagh dam cite silting up and degradation of Tarbela and Mangla as reasons to build Kalabagh. This defies logic. How can repeating a mistake be construed as a sign of wisdom?
In his argument for the construction of Kalabagh Dam, Mr Amar invokes reports by national and "international" experts. I would like to point out that the people of Pakistan will be paying the price for Tarbela and Mangla failures, and not international construction conglomerates or the "foreign experts" sponsored by the UN and World Bank who wrote the feasibility reports.
I did not comment on the need for building reservoirs to catch rain water; I simply pointed out the dangers posed by the existing and proposed dams on the Indus Rivers system.
The system is nature's gift which has sustained countless civilizations and generations over a period of tens of thousands of years. It was neither commissioned by the UN or the World Bank, nor designed by "foreign experts".
With our idiosyncratic view of "development" and "progress", we have managed to destroy it irreparably within a few decades.
We seem to be infatuated with "big" things. If China is building the Three Gorges dam, then thoughtlessly we think we must mimic this and build a dam of our own, regardless of circumstances and consequences. How much money have the Chinese borrowed from international agencies and how many international construction firms are benefiting from the Three Gorges project?
It is unwise to see this as a Punjab versus Sindh issue. This affects the whole country and countless future generations. If we continue to build a dam every few decades then we may not have a river system anymore.
I would like to suggest a small modification in Mr Amar's letter. He has referred to Shadi Kaur dam in the present tense. Given the scale of damage, it may be safe to refer to it in the past tense. We need a reality check.
DR SAIFULLAH NIZAMANI
Worcester, USA
Inflation versus economic growth
Two interesting news items were published in Dawn's business section (Mar 1). The first was with reference to the World Bank's visiting senior vice-president and chief economist, who was apprised by the team of government's financial and economic advisers that "inflation has been brought under control". Whatever the claim, the average Pakistani knows that inflation is rising with each passing day and there is absolutely no recession. The real barometer for this is purchasing power of the fixed salary class persons and the labour group who make up most of the population of Pakistan and where inflation hurts most, not the industrialists and privileged classes.
Ask any one of the affected majority population how soon their fixed income in a month evaporates due to ever-rising prices of edibles and consumer goods and how miserably they spend most of the month, living on salary advances or personal borrowings, paying off of which in the succeeding months leaves them with very little to pay for school fees, utilities and of course food to survive.
There is absolutely no alleviation in poverty. The worst is that the charity funds received from donors for distribution among the poor take long routes through a strong network of NGOs which receive them.
The other news item was the official announcement of the extraordinary achievement by the SME Bank of a 10-fold increase in their pre-tax profit during 2004 as compared to 2003. Whatever their articles or decree of incorporation might state, it was propagated that the SME bank was jointly created with funding by government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide financing to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for their trading and industrial needs. On that count the SME Bank bitterly failed, as observed by the ADB last year which even recommended to the government to reduce the SME Bank to the level of a mercantile bank. It was, however, not done due to high-level support to the bank and its management.
The SME itself is now a misleading term which encompasses enterprises with tens of millions of net worth and those with several thousands only. Obviously there is strong rapport between the SME bank's management and high-level SMEs and their total attention and help are devoted to the latter, depriving smaller and poor enterprises of help. By reporting this high profit, the SME Bank seems to have proved that they are really working like any other mercantile bank in pursuit of earnings. It is desirable that an element of transparency is introduced about the SME bank and their profits are analysed on the basis of interest-earning (further classified by the year of financing, amount and number of cases), forfeitures of number of loans and resultant disposal of the collateral due to delayed or no-payment, and any other factors contributing to their profit.
M. M. KHAN
Karachi
Helmets and seatbelt laws
The Punjab government's decision to implement the law on mandatory wearing of helmets by motorcyclists is commendable. Without doubt it would help avoid serious or fatal injuries.
To further improve the safety of vehicular transport, it would only be prudent to make the wearing of seatbelts compulsory and then also enforce this law vigorously, particularly when seatbelt use is already mandatory for motorway users. I also suggest that all the other provinces adopt these safety measures too.
Traffic on the roads of Lahore appears to be growing exponentially. The result is traffic jams which are too frequent these days. To an extent the problem could be tackled by strict implementation of traffic rules and inculcating good driving habits amongst road users. Besides, traffic engineering also plays a large part in smooth flow of traffic. This calls for a review of the policy to construct huge roundabouts, which restrict the traffic flow. No new roundabouts, ornamental or otherwise, should be constructed and the old ones demolished and replaced with computerized traffic lights, which can automatically measure traffic density and adjust light timings.
DHA Lahore is an autonomous body and should have no problem in removing roundabouts at Ghazi Chowk , Masjid Chowk on the Main Boulevard and installing traffic lights instead.
Drivers may have noticed a funny practice (by the traffic police) of switching off the traffic lights at peak traffic hours and reverting to manual traffic control. The wisdom perhaps is to facilitate traffic movement but the fact is that it causes undue hold-ups. Can the high ups in the traffic police department look into this? Adjusting the timing of traffic lights may perhaps be an easier solution.
AIR CDRE (retd) A. WAJID SALIM
Lahore
Gas pipeline projects
It is heartening to note that the government, after a considerable loss of time, has initiated discussions with neighbouring countries on reviving the proposed gas pipeline projects. Given the present energy scenario, natural gas is a nation's lifeline and immediate measures to bridge the gap between demand and supply are required.
The government had three options, namely, the proposed Qatar-Pakistan, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan and Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline projects that were initiated in 1990, 1991 and 1993, respectively. But, regrettably, none of the projects could materialize as even the feasibility study of the projects has not been conducted, and these are still on the drawing board.
Earlier, the government of Pakistan had decided that tenders for one of the most politically and economically viable projects would be issued for work to commence by 2004. Progress is still not in sight.
In the past a number of steering committees, coordination committees, technical committees and task forces for each project were formed but without achieving any tangible results. The government has, once again, nominated such committees afresh for these projects. The only outcome would be further delays and cost escalation of each multi-billion dollar project which require at least five years to complete.
To meet the huge shortfall in supply of natural gas, about 40 per cent of which is at present consumed for power generation, there is a critical need to make accelerated progress on the implementation of the most suitable project.
HUSSAIN SIDDIQUI
Islamabad
Two questions
"AAP ka naam kiya hay?" (What is your name?), "Kahan kahan service kia hay?" (Where have you worked before?). These were the only two questions which were asked by the federal minister for information and broadcasting when he interviewed officers of the information group at the Information Service Academy on Feb 28 for the selection of press officers abroad.
The process started at 10am and within two hours 60 officers had been interviewed. Obviously, when each officer was asked these two questions only, their replies would take not more than one answer a minute.
The interesting aspect is that it was a selection board interview with the board consisting of the minister of state for information and broadcasting and senior officers from ministries of foreign affairs, finance, information, establishment division, and the external publicity wing. All these members of the board kept quiet, and it was federal information minister who was asking these two questions from each candidate.
One felt that when pre-interview selections had already been made, the subsequent exercisewas unnecessary.
AN AFFECTED OFFICER
Islamabad
'Facts about the crisis in Balochistan'
Qazi Faez Isa's article "Facts about the crisis in Balochistan" (Feb 19) was very revealing. He has exposed the curse of feudalism and the sardari system. He is right about the medieval mindset of the sardars there. I had a taste of it in the late 1960s.
As Wapda's director of planning I had accompanied the additional chief secretary on a tour of Balochistan. He had a soft corner for the Baloch since he had gone to school there. He obtained a special grant of Rs1 crore - which was a large chunk of money then - from the governor of West Pakistan for development works in Balochistan. Many of the sardars knew him from his student days, and some were his classmates. Every sardar who met him said, "Sheikh Sahib, why are you worried about development work. Give me the money and I shall do what my people need."
On the last leg of his tour, he visited Chaman. A big tea party was thrown in his honour. While returning to Quetta in the evening he was totally frustrated. He could not contain himself and blurted out: "Look at these sardars. Wherever I went, each one of them asked me in private to give the money to him. He knows what the people of his tribe want. He will spend it for them. Why involve Wapda or any other department in it?" was the refrain. The attitude of the sardars remains the same as that of a trade union, as Mr Isa puts it.
We in Pakistan are never tired of talking about democracy. I have been to over 50 countries and lived in many on UNO assignments. Nowhere, including the most democratic dispensations in the West, I found politicians and the press obsessed with talking and writing about democracy so much as in Pakistan. And nowhere have I found it abused so much.
Sardars are like demigods to their people who are their bonded subjects. They hold sway over their life and death. How could any one dare vote against them in an election? If the voter is not free, how can there be true democracy? The farce we have is counterproductive. The sardars become chief ministers and ministers through the electoral process. On being elected they wield unbridled state power which is otherwise not available to them. It immensely adds to their authority, wealth and hold over their fiefdoms.
Look at their clout - for the past 30 years they have defied the writ of the state by not allowing implementation of the "System of Sardari (Abolition) Act" passed by the National Assembly in 1976. The same sardars become cabinet ministers, members of the Senate and the National Assembly. But no government, political or otherwise, can dare force them to implement the act or dare disqualify them from seeking election because of this defiance.
B. A. MALIK
Chief Technical Advisor, UNO Lahore
(II)
The article by Qazi Faez Isa is an eye-opener for every true Pakistani. President Musharraf needs to mention these facts in his next broadcast to the nation and take action against the insurgents calling themselves sardars (an illegal title) and carrying out insurgency in the country for the third time in history. This is a bigger crime than what Javed Hashmi of the Pakistan Muslim League has committed or what Nawaz Sharif had done in his attempt to drive the commander-in-chief out of the country. Balochistan must be saved from the damage the sardars are doing.
K. SALAM SHAIKH
Houston, Texas, USA
Amazing news
An amazing report appeared in Dawn's weekly magazine The Review (Jan 6-12). According to the report, a Swiss pharmaceutical company is producing a new medicine called the "Medicine of Quran" which is used for the treatment of cataracts.
The report further elaborates that this drug is made by an Egyptian doctor, Abdul Basit Muhammad, from the secretions of human sweat glands. The source is said to be based on Quranic verses.
How authentic is this news and the Egyptian doctor's claim?
SABIHA KHALID
Karachi
Foreign 'experts'
In his letter in response to an earlier mail on the issue of Pakistanis abroad who give expert advice on how the country is to be run, Mr Masood Haider (March 3) proves the point made earlier.
He praises a military dictator and the freedom of the press in Pakistan. This illustrates the naive notions and lack of knowledge of some overseas Pakistanis about the state of affairs in Pakistan.
It is exactly these kinds of experts we have to guard against.
SHAHID KHAN
Karachi
Link road project
As residents of the Steel Town, Karachi, we would like to request the city government to speed up its link road project which has been lying dormant for several years now.
The link road project will save us time and money since it will allow people located in the vicinities of Malir, Quaidabad, Landhi, Steel Town and its environs to cut short their travel time to areas like the Super Highway, North Karachi and North Nazimabad.
While some work has been done on the link road, it seems the political initiative has been overtaken by bureaucratic indifference.
This project, which was given new life under President Musharraf's Karachi package, needs to be completed at the earliest since it will connect the Super Highway with the National Highway and, in turn, also reduce traffic on other main arteries of the city.
SHUAIB KHAN
Karachi
Jobs for the disabled
The Sindh Public Service Commission advertised 71 posts for female school teachers in PBS 09/07 under the "disabled quota" vide its advertisement No. 2003-05, which appeared in various newspapers of July 2003. The government has reserved two per cent jobs for disabled persons.
Candidates were interviewed by the commission on Aug 11, 2004, and the result was announced on Aug 19, 2004.
Seven months have passed but the education department has not issued any appointment orders to the successful candidates. Teachers who have been selected for the jobs appeal to the Sindh education minister, the chief minister of Sindh and the president of Pakistan to order issuing of appointment letters immediately.
TALAT JAMAL SOOMRO
Kotri
Neglect of Chitral
Soon after the recent rainfall, both the president and the prime minister visited the rain-affected areas and extended their support to all but the Broghil area of Chitral. The people of this area are also badly affected and the snowfall has made their lives miserable. More than a thousand yaks have perished in the snow.
Despite all this, the government sent food and fodder worth just Rs200,000 - whereas the cost of just one yak is Rs40,000.
Nothing has been lost in Balochistan as compared to Broghil. It is the influence of Nawab Akbar Bugti that both the president and the prime minister have extended every possible support to Balochistan while the people of Broghil remain neglected.
ZULFIQAR AHMAD
Chitral
Delivery of cars
After reading the letter from M. A. Malik (Feb 22) and several such letters in the past on the subject, it appears that the delivery of locally assembled cars is becoming something like the delivery of the US F-16s.
RAFI AHMED
Karachi
Hate literature
The National Security Council of Pakistan wants curb on hate literature (March 1). This cannot be more right. But the problem is that nothing works nowadays in isolation.
Daniel Pipes, till recently a US government dignitary, has proposed the creation of an "anti-Islamist institute". Should comments on it be regarded as hate-based?
The NSC has dealt the case in isolation.
Z. A. KAZMI
Karachi
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