| May 6, 2005 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 26, 1426 |
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OT complex at CHK
PIA shares
Defence Housing Authority
Court delays
Model park
Do we really need F-16s?
Administrators to replace nazims?
Cheques and ATMs
Cricket craze
Illumination of buildings
Uplifting slum dwellers
Swede Bus
Pensioners
Phone
THE problems of Balochistan and its backwardness are rooted in the sardari system. You remove it and progress will reach the people who have been shackled for too long.
Sardar Akbar Bugti had said in an interview with a private channel immediately after the destruction of the Sui gas transmission site that the attackers were independent people and that he had no authority over them. A month later, he confirmed that they were Bugti tribesmen — his own men — who had fired rockets in retaliation for the rape of a lady doctor.
How could they take the law into their own hands? There are laws in place and there is a procedure to convict and punish the criminals. If it was a case of rape, were rail tracks, power lines, bridges and other government properties blown up?
Now Nawab Akbar Bugti says (in a telephonic address to the Karachi Press Club on April 29) that there will be more fighting in the future if Baloch demands are not met. The demands are: complete autonomy for the province, acceptance by Islamabad of the right of the Baloch to natural resources and development in Balochistan to be made to the satisfaction of the Baloch.
There is no harm in asking for autonomy; it can even be described as democratic. But it is not right to demand it through an insurgency. To assert the right of the Baloch on natural resources will be a bit too much. The whole nation has the right to the natural resources of all the provinces.
The resources of Balochistan, which is a part of Pakistan, belong to Pakistan. As for development being to the satisfaction of the Baloch, there cannot be two opinions about it. If development is taken to every nook and corner of the province, it will be to the satisfaction of the people — if not of the sardars.
S.M. KAZIM NAQVI
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the news item (PPI news agency) appearing in the Metropolitan section of your paper on May 4, “OT complex at CHK to be functional in August”. The news item gives a one-sided picture and portrays the administration of the Civil Hospital Karachi in a poor light.
I must take strong exception to the following statements of Dr Shafiqur Rehman contained in the news item.
First, the observation that the construction of the OT complex has been suspended due to administrative hurdles is incorrect. When the construction of this OT complex was started during the tenure of one of my predecessors, permission from the government was not obtained. Subsequently, the construction was stopped on the instructions of the Karachi Building Control Authority after the heritage committee of the Sindh government had raised strong objections to the destruction of a listed heritage site.
Second, Dr Shafiqur Rehman has commented: “At present, attendants are asked to bring all medicines and disposable items from medical store before an operation”. I can claim with pride that since January, 2005, a plentiful supply of both medicines and disposable items is being provided to both the wards and operation theatres of this hospital. This is easily verifiable by simply asking from any of the surgeons who work at the hospital. Dr Shafiqur Rehman works at the Lyari General Hospital.
Lastly, Dr Rehman has stated that the Sindh governor had announced a Rs2.7 million donation for this project at the ground-breaking ceremony, but the amount had not yet been received. Dr Rehman should be aware of the fact that the release of funds is under process at the finance department.
M. SAEED QURAISHY
Professor of Surgery, DUHS, and Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital,
Karachi
MY spouse and I had applied for PIA shares last year and had paid Rs40,000. We were neither allotted the shares nor was the subscribed amount refunded to us until last month when after rigorous follow-ups half of the refund was made.
I have been continuously following up with the Privatization Commission (PC), KASB (lead managers), and UBL (the bank through which I had subscribed for the PIA shares) but there has been no result so far. According to the PC, our subscription applications show subscription of 500 shares each, i.e., Rs20,000 and therefore the PC has refunded only this amount. However, the UBL has received Rs40,000 from us, which they accepted and mentioned in their letters to the PC and provided them all the available support in this regard. But the PC seems to be in no mood to accept this and is denying refund of my money.
I don’t know what exactly they want and what is the solution to this problem. Also, the lead managers are not clear as to what is now required by the PC in this regard.
SOHAIL MITHANI
Karachi
THERE has been an advertisement in one of the leading English language dailies issued by the Defence Housing Authority, Islamabad, for allotment of residential plots. The ad is targeted mainly at serving army officers and senior citizens belonging to 11 advertised categories.
This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that a defence housing authority has been introduced through a newspaper ad.
Thousands of applicants will jump on the bandwagon and may lose their initial contribution to seek “registration only” by paying thousands of rupees.
The advertisement gives an impression that it is authored by the GHQ.
If the GHQ is involved in this scheme, then there will be an unmanageable rush of applicants for which the site does not appear to have sufficient area and the scheme may result in a big mismanagement scam.
BRIG (retd) A. Q. ANJUM
Rawalpindi
A NEW chief justice has taken over in Sindh. In his inaugural speech he has asked that lawyers should resist accepting frivolous cases, which is sound advice. An equal responsibility lies on the shoulders of judges to throw out frivolous suits and appeals.
Sometimes a frivolous matter is admitted and a stay order granted just because the person appearing is a senior lawyer or is able to create confusion or to mislead a judge on facts or law. Thereafter, the matter drags on for years.
No society or country can ever make progress or be prosperous if those responsible for delaying justice are not taken to task by award of exemplary costs against all delinquents whether layman or lawyer.
It is the obligation of judges to display moral courage and not be persuaded to admit frivolous cases. A good example influences others. A correct step on the part of the high court will put the province and country on the right course.
RIAZ AHMED
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the model park built in North Nazimabad opposite the Qalandaria bus stop. The park has an extensive jogging track, a garden, benches, a separate play area with electronic rides for kids, even boating facilities for families.
In brief, the government has tried to facilitate the people of the locality by every possible means. Even then, the facility is not being availed of by a great number of people. The problem is how to get to the park.
The main road from the Shipowners College to the park is often full of sewage water throughout the summer and it is impossible to get through it, especially for those on bikes.
The problem becomes worse when it rains. A sum of Rs920,000 was spent over the adornment of the park but this problem was not considered by the authorities. If it is not taken care of by the authorities before the monsoon, hardly any person will be able to visit the park.
SABEEN JAMIL
Karachi
REFERENCE the article by Syed Shahid Hussain titled “Do we really need the F-16s?” (April 30), while the writer has the right to have his opinion about the issue, the following few facts need to be noted:
(a) The average price of an aircraft, inclusive of personnel training and maintenance package, is not even half of what the writer has estimated.
(b) Buying 100 F-16s is too big an assumption, which the writer has made to magnify the total cost of the project.
(c) It is an established strategic rule that “strength in conventional weaponry reduces the risk of nuclear exchange”. The writer has very conveniently ignored this rule in the heat of putting his arguments against the F-16s.
Air Cmdr SARFRAZ AHMED KHAN
Director, Public Relations Air Headquarters
Islamabad
TELL the chief ministers that they will be sent home before the next general election and the chief secretaries of their provinces will replace them, and see how vehemently they will protest against the idea.
It will be against the Constitution, they will say. It will be undemocratic. They are elected representatives of the people. They are very responsible persons. There is no possibility of their misusing their powers and position in the elections.
They are capable of holding free and fair elections... Fine. Then why are they pressing for the removal of all zila nazims before the coming elections of local governments? It will be against the law, as the Local Government Ordinance does not allow the appointment of administrators in place of zila nazims.
The nazims are also elected representatives of the people. (In fact, the zila nazims are more representative because only a small number of MPAs elects chief ministers.)
The zila nazims cannot misuse their powers and position because there are so many checks against them.
If the chief ministers can be trusted not to use their powers and position to manipulate the general election despite the resources of the entire province at their disposal, why is it so difficult to trust the zila nazims?
Why are the chief ministers so keen to remove the zila nazims before the elections? The obvious fact is that they themselves want to rig the elections to bring in their own favourites.
They know the zila nazims have done tremendous work during their term and are popular among the people. The chief ministers know that their own nominees stand little chance of winning against the sitting nazims.
So, they want to deny the people their right to elect their own representatives. So much for their love for democracy.
Let us not forget that the very first provincial elections under a sitting chief minister (Mumtaz Daultana) in Punjab in the 1950s were so rigged that the term “jhurloo phairna” entered the lexicon. No wonder, since then no sitting chief minister was allowed to hold elections.
The president introduced the local government system despite stiff opposition from politicians and bureaucrats.
The demand for the appointment of administrators is an attempt to sabotage the system. He must reject it, along with other unreasonable demands to change the Local Government Ordinance.
U. ATASI
Lahore
I AM as old an account holder of the Union Bank (account # 6102-449545-01) as the bank’s existence in Pakistan itself. I was banking with Emirates Bank when Union Bank acquired it in 2001 and my account was transferred to the latter. Problems on almost every issue such as cheque books, ATMs, etc., started from day one.
Initially, when I complained about the service quality, I was repeatedly assured that the bank was having teething problems and “it will pass in a matter of days”. But it seems with each passing day it is getting worse. An ATM card, according to the rules of any international banks, should take around three to four working days, and a cheque book should take even lesser time. I made a request for a fresh cheque book and a replacement ATM card on April 8, at the Union Bank, Clifton branch, Karachi. I received my cheque book after repeated enquiries, visits and requests on April 27 (19 days later) and my ATM card (4213 1000 002 3217) on April 30 (22 days later) with my name and surname both spelt wrong.
I immediately placed a call from the Clifton branch, where I received the card, on the bank’s online complaint 0800-444-44 for a rectification but I was told it will take another eight to 10 “working days”, which roughly translates into 12 days including weekends and holidays. Also, they had my mailing address wrong in spite of getting it rectified at least three times online and in person with the bank’s Clifton branch.
One wonders why the bank took 22 “working days” to issue me a cheque book and an ATM without even caring to put my name right, and they require another eight to 10 “working days” to get their own mistake corrected.
I remember the good old banking days with our local banks when cheque books were issued on the spot and there were no ATMs to worry about.
Since the advent of online banking and computerization, either things have been made too complicated and difficult for consumers or there are officers sitting at the other end misguided by their own lack of knowledge, in turn confounding account holders. One can only conclude that “online banking” is grossly “off track”.
A. AHMAD
Karachi
OUR cricket team did us proud. We always feel happy when they play against India and win. This time not the people but the government went overboard. Inzamamul Haq and his team deserved praises, prizes and pats on the back. But parading players on the streets, showering them with flower-petals and announcing heavy rewards for them are not worthy of a mature nation. I doubt if this would do any good to the players either.
At best this profuse adulation will work as a psychological burden on them to do better. And what does it do for other sports? We, a nation of 150 million, have the dubious distinction of not winning even a single bronze medal in the last Olympics.
Any thought or money spent to attract youth to other sports? Or was all this show meant to divert attention and scuttle debate on peace moves with India?
NAZAR ABBAS
Islamabad
IT was surprising to read (April 21) the Karachi city naib nazim “directing officials of the city government to profusely illuminate government buildings, particularly city government ones, so that Eid Milad could be celebrated in a befitting manner.
He further said: “Special care should be taken of cleanliness on the occasion,” particularly along the routes of Milad processions.” I think they have their priorities all wrong.
The illumination should be in our hearts, deeds and actions. The Holy Prophet set personal examples of cleanliness.
So let the city fathers start cleaning the city, removing the overflowing garbage bins, ending poverty and educating the masses. These deeds will be appreciated more than illumination and processions.
S. BABAR
Karachi
MANY poor people are living in slums and squatter settlements in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 15.
They are without any medical facilities or government schools. Their children are forced to roam around or beg on the roads. Lots of private schools are running in their area but are too expensive for the children of the shanty towns.
These people should be provided with proper medicare, counselling, employment opportunities, etc. To start with, the government should allocate funds to build schools which could impart cheap and proper education.
I urge the officials concerned to use Zakat committees to help the poor people of the area.
MARIA SALEEM
Karachi
IN RESPONSE of the news item published in the Metropolitan section on May 2 regarding the suspension of operation by Swede Bus Pakistan without any intimation, it is clarified that the operation was suspended over the weekend for detailed maintenance of buses, especially their airconditioning system.
The main reasons for suspension of the operation were:
1) A few incidents of misbehaviour from some passengers with bus staff.
2) Continuous complaints from passengers regarding the malfunctioning of airconditioners.
The maintenance process is near completion. However, in the meantime, Swede Bus has resumed operations with full fleet on its routes.
The airconditioning system of a few buses has not yet been overhauled, but for the convenience of the general public buses have been temporarily put on the road as non-A/C buses.
Swede Bus regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers during the period of suspension.
SWEDE BUS
Karachi
DUE consideration is paid to pensioners in all advanced countries. Apart from reasonable pensions, they are also entitled to subsidized food items. Once Ms Benazir Bhutto in parliament had declared that whenever pay scales of in-service employees were revised upward, retired employees would also be adjusted in the revised scales. So far, this has remained a dream. Even the 16 per cent rise announced last year is in the doldrums.
SULTAN AHMED CHOWDHRY
Lahore
MY residence phone 051-5567190 was suspended on April 9. I got a complaint registered with 18 and also approached other PTCL officials but it all proved futile.
DR SHAH DIN RAFIQ
Rawalpindi
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