KARACHI: Participation of masses urged for sustained development
KARACHI, Nov 17: The dream of social development could not be materialized until public consultation is not declared an integral part of all the uplift schemes.
These views were expressed at the Sixth Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan Development Forum on the theme of “the relationship between public consultation and development” at the NIPA Auditorium here on Thursday.
Prof Mohammad Noman in his keynote address on the topic said that the very concept of sustainable development without public consultation was meaningless.
The ruling class in every era has its own priorities and they view the uplift projects from their own narrow perspectives, which are radically different from the aspirations and interests of the masses, he added.
Prof Noman discussed in detail the relationship between public consultation and development in the primitive, medieval, colonial and post-colonial periods.
He said that in the colonial era, the imperialist rulers tightened their grip on the colonies in the garb of developing infrastructure and reforms.
Declaring the World Bank, IMF, GAAT, WTO and the likes as imperialist institutions, Prof Noman said that such institutions had tightened their grip over the underdeveloped countries by making the more and more dependent and thus forcing them to accept their policies for the realization of the vested interests of the imperialist powers.
These institutions are ruling the poor third world countries through their ‘local partners’ including the state and the army, Prof Noman added saying that presently there was much drum-beating about ‘development’, but in fact only the vested interests of the imperialist forces were being served and the fruits of this so-called development were still out of the reach of the masses.
Prof Noman said that after the creation of Pakistan, the ruling class introduced a development policy of ‘green revolution’ and many new dams, barrages and canals were built, but the real beneficiary was the feudal class.
He said that introduction of local governments was a good concept as they were empowered to chalk out their own development projects, but these institutions were dependent on the federal government for their funding.
Prof Noman charged that in fact federalism was being imposed on the country in the garb of the local government system and devolution of power.
He said that the ruling class was least concerned about public opinion. In this regard, he quoted the example of the Kalabagh Dam, saying that the rulers were still adamant to carry out the project despite its rejection by three provincial assemblies of the country.
He said that there was no Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted for the Mirani Dam and so was the case of the Northern Bypass project.
He called for a joint struggle from local to global levels in order to face the negative impacts of the global market economy and to realize the dreams of the masses.
Prof Noman also called for making environment courts and tribunals and increased say of people in policymaking and legislation.
Giving presentation on “the existence of legislative framework for public consultation and involuntary displacement”, Prof Saeed Ahmed Khan said that mostly the laws of British rulers were adopted in Pakistan after its creation and later laws of other modern countries were borrowed and adopted here with minor changes, and presently lending agencies were dictating the government how to make laws.
Prof Khan said that all the uplift projects should be assessed on cost/benefit analysis and the factor of displacement of people due to such projects should also be weighed on that ground.
Chairperson of the session M.H. Panhwar in his address lauded the services of Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan and compared it with the struggle of Comrade Haider Bux Jatoi.
Later, four case studies were presented to show the impact of lack of public consultation upon the development projects.
Abubakar Shaikh of the Pakistan Fishermen Folk in his case study of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project said that the World Bank had approved this project in 1974 without proper studies.
He said that in 1984 this project was started and its chief engineer objected that its technical grounds were faulty, but the Wapda ignored those objections.
The second case study was about the Right Bank Outfall Drain project and through a documentary of Action Aid it was opined that the lack of public participation had proved this project harmful for the environment around the Kotri and Thatta areas.
The other two presentations by the Urban Resources Center Lahore and Karachi, respectively, were about the harmful affects of Ring Road Lahore and the Lyari Expressway project of Karachi.
Later, a group discussion was held, which concluded that public participation was a must for any development project.
On the occasion two resolutions were unanimously passed. They demanded of the state to give the right to consultation in any project at its conceptual stage.
They also demanded that work on LBOD, RBOD, Lahore Ring Road and the Lyari Expressway should be stopped immediately and the public be consulted on the effects these projects would have on their lives.—PPI
