| September 21, 2005 | Wednesday | Sha'aban 16, 1426 |
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Demolition of heritage
Who made the remarks then?
VVIP movement
NAB as organization
Sycophants galore
PTCL’s customer support system
UNHD report
Rampant theft
Car leasing business
Incorrect
Dirty water deaths
Where is the condemnation?
KUDOS to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for approving a new gas allocation and management policy (Dawn, Sept 11) which has noticed that “bulk of self-power generation in industrial units was being carried out with low gas-use efficiency technology leading to uneconomic utilization of scarce gas resources”. The gas supply to such power plants would “also be subject to the condition that those dual-fired power plants which employ combined cycle and cogeneration technology shall be encouraged for allocation of gas”.
All this is wonderful news but where do we go from here? Just like 1994-95 energy policy which encouraged furnace oil engines for power generation (now obsolete due to very high costs of fuel, combined with low efficiency), we have been encouraging enormous wastage of scarce gas supply by spending exorbitant foreign exchange in the last five years on gas engines, for which gas supply is now fast depleting our scarce resource due to very low power generation efficiency.
Unfortunately, it is a common sight in many industries all over the country where we have low-efficiency gas-guzzling generators operating next to inefficient boilers consuming 40-50 per cent more gas than a combined heat and power (or cogeneration) system for the same loads. This inefficiency is neither economically affordable nor environmentally acceptable but we merrily go on, investing in inefficient technologies and calling it “modernization and wing” of our industries.
The ECC should now initiate counselling of the entire industrial sector since the country cannot afford this continuing inefficiency.
The power sector also needs urgent revamping to match the latest gas management policy. Whereas the policy wants industries to use combined cycle or cogeneration technology for much smaller power plants, how can we now accept Wapda and KESC — and many IPPs — with inefficient power plants? Bin Qasim, Jamshoro, the Hub Power, etc., are really inefficient and the sooner these are “re-powered” to efficient combined cycle, the better for the country.
But we must also note how we seem to dodge real issues by misrepresenting commonly understood technologies. Combined cycle power plants are encouraged everywhere because these provide high fuel efficiencies, up to 60 per cent in some cases. Whereas the standard low-cost combined cycle power plant would be in the range of 53-54 per cent, we are installing a 44 per cent efficiency, 95 MW combined cycle power plant in Karachi —only approved recently and with very high tariff due primarily to very low efficiency — and for which our scarce gas supply has been confirmed.
This power plant would consume 20 per cent more fuel – and thus also exhaust 20 per cent more pollution — than what standard technology should have consumed. Thus, it is not enough to say that power plant should be based on combined cycle technology but minimum efficiency levels must be ensured to reduce tariff.
Similarly, many industries also misrepresent efficient cogeneration technologies by recovering waste heat for a very small fraction of their steam or hot water requirements and waste our scarce gas supply on inefficient boilers. The gas companies need to understand the energy conservation technologies so that they can also “guide” major clients for best processes in the interest of efficiency. We need to urgently, and consciously, adopt high efficiency in all our industrial and power sectors to be able to compete with this free-trade world.
AAZA
Karachi
This is with reference to your news report ‘Historical sandstone building being razed’ (Sept. 19). According to it, the owner of the Beaufort building on Karachi’s I. I. Chundrigar Road is demolishing it to pave way for the construction of a high-rise building.
This beautiful building is a testament to the business that Karachi attracted even in its early colonial years and adds to the character of I. I. Chundrigar Road. It is a part of the heritage of the city and it is unacceptable that somebody should tear it down. The greed of the owner is evident from the fact that he is trying to demolish it on weekends and at night to steer clear of the authorities. He does not realize that what he is doing is destroying a vital part of the history of the city. If we demolish our heritage, we destroy our past. And without a past to look back upon, there is no future.
I would request the Sindh governor to intervene and have this matter looked into. The building should be sealed and anybody who tries to destroy it further should be dealt with strictly with the law. We cannot afford to lose this landmark on I. I. Chundrigar Road for the sake of some commercial development. A better alternative would be to incorporate its century-old facade into the construction of the new building but apparently the owner has other plans in mind.
All historical buildings in Karachi should be protected from having their facades demolished so that the city can retain some of its glorious past.
SAAD ANSARI
Austin, TX, US
This is with reference to the news item “A lot done for women in six years” (Dawn, Sept. 19), according to which the president denied his remarks on rape to the Washington Post saying that they were made by someone else.
Will the president be kind enough to tell us as to who that ‘someone’ is and why did he think it fit to quote him? Also, it should be clear that even if he quoted someone else, it showed that such remarks were in consonance with his views. Why didn’t the president quote the word of rape instead?
The inability of the government to punish the rapists of Mukhtaran Mai, Dr Shazia Khalid and Sonia Naz and the subsequent statements by government functionaries against rape victims is proof that the government seems to be partial towards the perpetrators of such crimes. Those allegedly involved in these three particular cases are said to feudals, members of the armed forces and the police respectively. No wonder that there was an inordinate delay in the registration of FIR in the above-mentioned cases while in the Sonia Naz case, an FIR has yet to be registered.
The president claims that a lot has been done for women in six years. If this is the best the president can do for women in the last six years, it is about time he quit and let the politicians rule.
ANIL KHAN LUNI
Lahore
I am a resident of Mehmoodabad in Karachi. On September 16, a visit to Karachi by a VVIP (probably the prime minister) played havoc with our neighbourhood. All the roads leading to the main Sharea Faisal were blocked by the police.
Let alone drive, no one could even walk past the barriers. To make matters worse, the blockade lasted many hours. The episode left many residents in my neighbourhood extremely angry because so many people were affected by the delay caused by the blockaded roads. And once the motorcade passed, the traffic in the whole area was jammed so badly that it took more than an hour to normalize. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the traffic lights were also not working (probably because of KESC’s loadshedding) with the result that there was a complete mess on the road.
Also, it has to be said that as soon as the VVIP motorcade passed, the traffic police, who had been so diligently standing for hours, literally fled the scene. And it is our taxes which pay for their salaries. It would be much better if such VVIPs instead used helicopters and spared us common and ordinary mortals such torture. Or if they can’t do that, they should perhaps travel on the road late at night so as to minimize the disturbance that they cause to the commuting public.
When will our VVIPs heed the voice of the people?
BHOLEY SHAH
Karachi
I WOULD like to draw the attention of all concerned that The chairman of the National Accountability Bureau was given extension for one year which is about to expire. The president of the Pakistan Muslim League, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has repeatedly expressed his opinion that NAB, which is headed by an army general, should be headed by a judge of superior court to make it a judicious organization with no reflection either on the army or the incumbent chairman.
The NAB ordinance suggests that the chairman of NAB should be appointed in consultation with the chief justice of Pakistan. It is hoped that the chief justice will take into consideration the opinion of the elected representatives as reflected in the various statements of no less a person than the head of the ruling party and will advise the president of Pakistan to appoint a judge of the supreme court to be the chairman of NAB. It will be an act to restore the confidence of public in our superior judiciary and actions of NAB will be more transparent and judicious.
MASUDA KHANUM
Karachi
CHANGING governments have produced amongst us a special class of courtiers, flatterers, time servers and opportunists with a unique taste for bootlicking. Without any regard for vanity, sanity or urbanity they must lick the boot if it offers them the advantages they have been seeking. There is no question of honour as self-interest is more important than self-respect; they can only brighten their prospects if they hasten to brighten the boot in power.
Unfortunately, the courts cannot take cognizance of this offence as the law can only deal with boot-lifters and boot-leggers and not boot-lickers.
This flair makes many people “power profiteers” and confers on them vast fortunes. Lamentably, the top men of every ruling coterie have been surrounded by sycophants who are tutored to deify “gods” that had power and patronage, respect only those who exercised official influence, and be afraid of only those who happened to be holding the fiat of authority.
If our country is an Augean stable of parasites and plunderers, the exertions of boot-leggers are in no small measures responsible for this abominable state of affairs.
AFTAB AHMAD KHAN
Karachi
IT was really something to discover new parameters of the PTCL after its privatization. The management is doing its best to avoid delays and maintain a convenient way of complaint logs. But unfortunately this system can hardly be called perfect. Either the staff is not used to working at the same pace as that of the management or it is ignorant of certain problems, or the equipment in use needs maintenance.
I called “18” on Sept 13 to register a complaint for my residence phone (# 4903944) installed in the Malir cantonment exchange and administrated by Model Colony exchange. On doing so, I was connected to the interactive voice response (IVR) technology, which connected my call to an operator and assigned me an operator number. I told the operator about the static and disturbance that I had been experiencing for a while in my landline and she, in turn, gave me a complaint number. Of course, this is hardly the problem, for it was all done quite rapidly.
The real story began after two hours, when I received an IVR call, which asked for confirmation, that is, the problem, which supposedly had been fixed. To this, I selected the option, which said that my problem had not been solved. After that, the phone started to ring every half an hour or so with identical IVR calls. Someone from the Malir cantonment exchange called after that and asked me what the problem was with the phone line. I repeated what I told the operator earlier and he replied saying that “we are checking this matter”. Till around 9am next day I received a few more system-automated calls.
On Sept 17 around 4pm the PTCL personnel came over to check the line. They then started working on the telephone cabinet and after some time they managed to minimize the disturbance. Later, the line began to function properly, I took a peek inside this cabinet and found that most of the cabinet was oxidized. Apparently, whenever the linemen tried to touch the line, it would break. Perhaps this is why it took so long to solve the problem. Such devices must be looked after by qualified personnel and not by “jacks of all trades” that roam about as linemen
HAMAD ALI
Karachi
ACCORDING to the UN Human Development report, Pakistan stands at 135th position in the list of 177 countries currently. Last year, Pakistan ranked 142 in this rating in comparison with 127 in 2002.
The criterion for this international country rating was drawn on the basis of basic socio-economic indicators like average life expectancy, literacy rate, school enrolment and gross national product. India firmly anchored at the 127th position, the same as last year’s but Bangladesh went down with a slim margin, from 138 to 139.
The need of the hour is that the government must take concrete measures to implement cautiously designed durable and sustainable policies to make progress in the sectors of health, education and the economy. Instead of moving to and fro along the UNHD scale, we must show gradual progressive ascent annually so that we can stand alongside the better-rated countries of our region like China and Sri Lanka.
DR M. HASSAN MAJEED
Lahore
I want to bring the attention of law-enforcement authorities towards the increasing incidence of crime in Karachi. Every day many vehicles are broken into by unknown thieves and car decks, tape recorders and other valuables are stolen. The worst part of this story is that most of these incidents take place at public places like outside shopping malls, wedding halls and so on.
I am unable to understand how this all takes place so openly and especially at such public places. If the law-enforcement authorities do some proper planning and concentrate their energies on the areas where such theft is rampant, they could bring the number of such crimes down. Police should deploy some plain clothes men at such locations.
ZAFARUL ISLAM
Karachi
I am shocked to know that I will now have to pay 11 per cent interest on my car’s lease, financed from a recently privatized commercial bank. When I leased the car, the interest rate was 7.5 per cent and that was the main attraction since it was the lowest rate at that time. The bank has deceived me and I request the banking ombudsman to look into this matter because it must be happening with other car owners as well. The said bank is also harassing and intimidating its customers on the phone to pay the increase in the mark-up.
It seems as if there is no government or rule of law. These banks are fleecing their customers who have no other option but to pay whatever is asked of them. Is there anyone who can help the victims of those few banks?
M. AYYOB
Lahore
Writing about the Jinnah House in Mumbai, Mr Qutubuddin Aziz says (Sept. 19) that the Quaid-i-Azam spent many years with his wife in that house. The house at Malabar Hill was constructed in 1936. Ruttie Jinnah died on February 20, 1929 and she was separated from her husband much earlier. This means that Malabar Hill house was constructed seven years after her death.
One wonders why people choose to modify history to suit their arguments or to match their fantasies. One should double check the facts before saying things like this.
KHALID AHMAD
London
This is with reference to contaminated water situation in Karachi as a result of which almost a dozen lives have been lost in recent days. One is unable to understand what kind of protection the government is providing to its citizens. Similar deaths happened in Lahore recently as well.
The government should have taken all neccessary steps to ensure that citizens have access to clean water, especially after the outbreak took place in Lahore. First, people were scared of going to public places because of exploding bombs and now they are scared of drinking water. The blame for these deaths lies on the shoulders of the government and its agencies which are supposed to provide clean water.
NASIR AYYAZ
Stockholm, Sweden
Every Friday, in every mosque, preachers deliver full-throated sermons telling their audience to pray but hardly ever talk of the importance of having a good character. The champions of religion have never uttered a word, even of mild disapproval, at the frequent cases of rape in the country.
They talk of imposing Shariat by force. They will punish any woman who displays even her draped figure but what penalty will they impose on men who tear away women’s clothes and march them on the road before the gaze of the public?
In Mukhataran’s case the culprits are influential and feudal. In Shazia’s case the alleged perpetrator was said to be an army captain. And in Sonia’s case it is the police. Yet, only in Mukhtaran’s case there was a semblance of justice and that too only when the Supreme Court took notice.
S.G. JILANEE
Karachi
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