| August 8, 2005 | Monday | Rajab 2, 1426 |
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Crash lessons
Disposal of hospital waste
FINALLY, Mr Tony Blair has acted, though belatedly, and taken a number of steps that include the banning of two extremist groups — Hizbul Tahrir and its successor, Al Muhajiroon. The decisions have been taken after 7/7, when terrorists struck and killed 52 commuters in London. Since then, the British prime minister has been urging Pakistan to do more and placing a lot of emphasis on madressahs. On Friday, the Labour government unveiled a set of measures that it thinks will help control terrorism. The decisions are of a sweeping nature and in many respects would seem uncharacteristic when judged against Britain’s liberal values and traditions. Amongst the most controversial are those concerning asylum, deportations, closing of mosques where extremists preach hate and deporting those who visit certain mosques and websites. Now people seeking asylum can be refused entry into Britain if they have any terrorist links. Not only that, foreign nationals will be deported to their countries of origin even if this means they will face persecution when they return. The Labour government would also assume powers allowing it to strip people with dual nationality of British citizenship if they are found to be in any way linked with terrorism. The law would also apply to people with naturalized British citizenship. The special powers for deportations appear unnecessary because, even under the existing law, the home secretary can deport any person with dual nationality if he is found preaching hatred or violence.
The most disturbing aspect of the power package is the gradual shrinkage of freedom for the British citizens. Liberal elements and human rights crusaders have already begun criticizing the measures, and there is no doubt that resistance to the move will grow. Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy has served notice that the Labour government should not count on his support, because closing mosques and deporting people who visit certain mosques could increase tensions. A most controversial part of the proposed regulation is that they will take effect retrospectively. This means an imam can be deported for things he said several years ago.
Britain’s Muslim community is bound to see the new measures as an instrument of persecution. Mr Blair said that he considered the Muslim community as a partner in the fight against terrorism. But given the hysteria characterizing some sections of the British media, there is no doubt that the Muslims will find their individual and community lives under pressure. Terrorism has to be fought. But, as Britain is now discovering, it is easy to fault Pakistan for not doing enough and asking it to “do more” but far more difficult to fight the elusive menace that terrorism is. The problem is worsened by the fact that the vast majority of the people who abhor terrorism feel threatened. Flushing terrorists out of society is a task that requires patience rather than laws and police methods that often result in harassment of innocent citizens, even death, as happened in the case of the unfortunate Brazilian. Terrorists dwell among what London Mayor Ken Livingstone calls “the pool of the alienated” on which they draw. For that reason, the best source of information on terrorists is the Muslim community. This means Britain should pay greater attention to winning over the confidence of its Muslim community and enlisting its support in the endeavour instead of alienating it with harsh measures that may do little to help the war on terror.
IN a way, perhaps, the stock market crash in March has been a blessing in disguise as it has woken up the regulators and the economic managers to the malaise affecting the working of the Karachi Stock Exchange. To this they themselves, along with some star market players and the KSE management, had, wittingly or unwittingly, contributed. The gross market abuse inflicted huge losses on small investors and retarded the growth of a healthy capital market, but it forced the SECP to set up a task force to determine its causes and suggest remedies. The task force has identified a number of individuals responsible for “inside trading” and “wash sale” and the SECP has followed it up with notices served on some market players. While the misdeeds of individuals cannot be condoned, the efficacy of the administrative machinery in taking action against wrongdoers has always remained suspect — and this may be more in this case, inhibited as the SECP is by its limitations as demonstrated by its inability to prevent the March crash and disclose the names of those involved.
While the measures suggested by the task force need to be considered on merit and their significance recognized in the context of the crash, the key issue is that the capital market lacks depth, is narrow and shallow. The demand and supply of shares cannot be overlooked. With the number of listed shares at the KSE shrinking, partly due to the costly and hassle-ridden reforms carried out so far and excess money in the market chasing a few scrips, high market volatility was a natural outcome. To make matters worse, private limited companies are being discouraged from listing on the stock exchange by a phased withdrawal of tax incentives. Instead, the policymakers look at the skyrocketing prices of about a dozen shares or more on the KSE-100 from some 700 quoted scrips as an indicator of the robust performance of the economy and feel satisfied. As suggested by the task force, the market needs more reforms that are rooted in the ground realities of the stock exchanges. But if the current trends go unchecked, weaker companies and small investors will be driven out of the market and the stock exchange may turn into an exclusive rich men’s club.
TIME and again, medical authorities in the country have issued warnings against the perils of the unsafe disposal of hospital waste. Highlighting the issue, doctors in Karachi have once again pointed out that the improper disposal of hospital waste is a major health risk to the people, and called upon the relevant authorities to enforce the rules for the safe disposal of hazardous waste. Their concern should not be treated lightly. Pakistan generates about 250,000 tons of hospital waste every year, but much of it is disposed of casually. It is not unusual to find infected medical equipment, used cotton swabs and bandages, even severed body parts, mixed with the usual garbage awaiting disposal. This enables scavengers to retrieve contaminated medical instruments like syringes that should be destroyed immediately after use. These are recycled and sold to health units where they are used on unsuspecting patients.
There have been periodic attempts to improve the present system of disposal, and hospital waste management rules have been formulated stressing the importance of segregating garbage generated by health units at source so that contaminated waste is kept apart from non-risky material. But these efforts have not been continued with the result that hospital staff tend to flout all rules and in many cases are guilty of selling used hospital equipment for recycling purposes. The health authorities should not be taking a lenient view of this practice and errant health workers must be penalized. Meanwhile, priority should be given to a safer and speedier method of disposing hospital waste through the optimal use of existing incinerators, while ensuring that these are equipped with emission controls. Perhaps, it is also about time more environment-friendly techniques of disposal — such as steam autoclaving — were explored and put to use as they have been in other countries.