| January 3, 2006 | Tuesday | Zilhaj 2, 1426 |
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Eligibility of PSI companies
HEC & scholarships
Movement of VVIPs
Joining army
IIB depositors’ plight
New Year parties
Ban on cable channels
Power blackout
Execution of uplift project
Pemra’s ban
THIS refers to the Kalabagh dam controversy. The general public is not even aware that although the dam is to be constructed on the Indus, the site is the confluence of the Indus and the Soan rivers.
The maximum water storage will be in the Soan River as the Indus is very narrow from Attock to Kalabagh.
The KBD lake will be more than 80 per cent in Punjab. The water from the Pothohar catchment area of the Soan River can effectively be stored only by siting the dam at Kalabagh.
After Warsak, the Kabul River water can only be stored at the Kalabagh dam, otherwise the surplus will flow into the sea.
Charsadda and Mardan are more than 50 feet higher than the height of the dam. Therefore, these areas could not be affected by seepage.
Efficiency of the Tarbela dam power station would improve significantly as water released from Tarbela for power generation could be stored again at the KBD for the irrigation requirement of the lower riparians.
It is proposed that to achieve the consensus of opposing provinces, the following incentives should be provided, which could generate development in these provinces: (1) Sharing of royalty from the KBD power generation by all the four provinces on the basis of population; (2) royalty from additional power generation at the Tarbela dam due to the KBD also to be shared by all provinces; (3) additional water available due to the KBD to be shared by all provinces (including Balochistan) as per the water accord; (4) assurance of minimum Indus flow below Kotri throughout the year as per the recommendations of technical studies.
Moreover, resettlement of those affected by the water reservoir before the commissioning of dam should be decided beforehand. People of the NWFP could be given monetary compensation and barren lands in Bannu/D. I. Khan, which will be irrigated by water from the KBD. Similarly, the affected people of the Pothohar region could be settled in the Thal Canal area.
Development of the “salaiba” land of Sindh should be undertaken by constructing flood control dykes and extending the irrigation system. This will increase the cropping intensity of the areas.
Fish farms in the reclaimed “salaiba” areas should be developed to provide additional opportunities to the fishermen of the Indus.
Electricity tariff in the country, especially in Karachi, will go down after the commissioning of the KBD.
Projects should also be initiated for safeguarding/reviving the Indus delta eco-system, especially mangrove forests and fisheries.
QASIM IQBAL KHAN
Lahore
THE Kalabagh dam has been on the drawing board for a long time but no government could see it through. I am not competent to comment on the advantages and disadvantages of this project but my objection is simply to the manner in which it is being presented for approval, presumably in the court of public opinion.
We have on the one side Gen Musharraf trying to explain the advantages of the project and even issuing ultimatums that failure to build the dam will be suicidal and that Sindh will suffer enormously. On the other hand the Sindh assembly has rejected the dam time and again. Even the MQM, a coalition partner with the PML-Q, has expressed its opposition but Pir Pagara has supported the project predicting simultaneously that the regime in Sindh will collapse.
Both tempo and tempers have been raised on both sides while experts continue to express their views. The newspapers are full of articles containing views for and against. The question is why has the president brought the question of Kalabagh to a do-or-die situation now when it was not seriously raised during the preceding six years.
There is a fog of mistrust between the other provinces and Punjab which needs to be seriously addressed. There are allegations of violations by Punjab since the Water Accord of 1991. Even if no canals are provided in the Kalabagh dam plans, the key to the water will lie with Punjab and water is a scarce and precious commodity in Sindh. The mistrust cannot go away by assurances from the provincial government of Punjab or by the offer of constitutional guarantees in a country where supra constitutional deviations have frequently occurred and have been upheld by the Supreme Court on the ground of necessity.
Unless there is a definite game plan in raising this issue at the present time and in the present manner, the solution probably lies in an open televised debate of this all-too-important issue in parliament where the treasury benches and the opposition can spell out their respective positions before putting the issue to a vote.
The views of the parliamentarians will be covered in the print and electronic media and will reach the people of Pakistan and the issue will be decided by their representatives. If parliament votes in favour of the dam, the federal government can then take the issue forward with the provincial governments with legal and moral authority and endeavour to remove misgivings by developing an inter-provincial accord as the offer of constitutional guarantee raises more problems than it seeks to serve. This issue needs to be dealt with and resolved in a democratic manner with the utmost amount of goodwill, tolerance and equality.
The only object before us should be the future benefit to Pakistan. Nothing else matters. So long as parliament and the provincial assemblies exist and members have not resigned their seats, let this issue be moved to the centre-stage so that elected representatives may express their views in an open debate and thus remove suspicion and mistrust.
LIAQUAT H. MERCHANT
Karachi
RICE exporters have rightly invited the attention of the federal secretary for commerce that the quality review committee (QRC) managed by the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) is not a member of the International Federation of Inspection Agencies (IFIA) nor the National Quality Control Organization and as such not qualified to carry out pre-shipment inspection (PSI) of rice export cargo to global destinations.
The membership of IFIA and the local body is a must and without it no PSI company can function and it is very surprising that although the attention of the QRC was drawn to the requirement it never bothered to give it any consideration, nor did it apply for its membership. Perhaps it knew that even if it applied for membership, it was not be eligible because the rules state as under:
“The WTO PSI agreement recognizes that GATT 1994 principles and obligations apply to the activities of pre-shipment inspection agencies mandated by governments. The obligations placed on PSI- user governments include non-discrimination, transparency, protection of confidential business information, avoidance of unreasonable delay, the use of specific guidelines for conducting price verification and the avoidance of conflicts of interest by PSI agencies.
The obligations of exporting members towards PSI users include non-discrimination in the application of domestic laws and regulations and the provision of technical assistance where requested”.
It is surprising that the QRC is not even a member of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control body nor a member of the Certification Bodies Association and yet is carrying out PSI of rice cargo to global destinations.
We have requested that federal secretary of commerce to remove the conflict of interest and hand over its management to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) or the Trading Corporation of Pakistan. This requirement was deliberately overlooked by the political government of Nawaz Sharif although it was pointed out to him but he wanted to favour his favourites and designed this system to give his friends a weapon against their competitors — and it is indeed sad that this system continues to date although every official has acknowledged its defective status and conflict of interest.
ZULFIKAR THAVER
Karachi
A FEW months ago, after completing my graduation, I applied to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand, for the master’s programme in information management with a full fellowship of 48 credits.
After a long procedure, I got my admission form but the institute give me only a 12 credit-fellowship and suggested that I should contact the Higher Education Commission in Pakistan for further scholarship.
I immediately contacted the HEC chairman via email who replied the very next day and told me to contact the HEC executive director. The chairman also forwarded my email to him.
After one week, I got the executive director’s reply in which he told me to wait for an HEC scholarship advertisement. When I asked him as to when then advertisement would appear, he did not reply. Later, I once again tried to contact the chairman via email for help but this time he too did not reply.
Moreover, after a few days, I went through an ad from the section officer (foreign training), planning and development department in the Sindh secretariat, about scholarships for studies in Thailand. I wrote an application asking for the scholarship procedure. Although several weeks have passed, I haven’t received any letter and also nobody is responding to the phone number given. After a long wait, I finally went to his office but his secretary said: “We cannot help you in this matter”. He suggested that I should contact the university grant commission in the HEC.
After several weeks the project director of the HEC emailed a message to me saying: “There are also many students who are applying in AIT. Therefore, the HEC has now decided to arrange a meeting with AIT for scholarships in the last week of November”. He gave me his phone number and email address and suggested that I should contact him in the last week of November.
For the last one month I have been trying to contact the HEC project director. I have already sent him many an email but unfortunately he hasn’t replied to any of them so far. Not only this, nobody is picking up his phone (051-9258746).
I request the HEC chairman to look into the matter.
IMRAN KHAN
Karachi
MUCH has been written about the VIP movements in Karachi and the difficulties it creates for ordinary citizens due to closure of roads, traffic jams and resulting delays in reaching one’s destination. But it seems that these VIPs hardly give a second thought to the hardships they create for the people.
One incident on Dec. 22 was an eye-opener and extremely distressing for everyone present at the CCU of a naval hospital in Karachi. A woman patient of this hospital suffered a heart attack in the evening and needed immediate attention, but the doctor on duty at the coronary care unit was attached to the president for the day for his security. Anyway the doctor could not be reached and in the meanwhile the patient passed away.
Why was such an important person deputed somewhere else away from a place where he is meant to save lives? Other incidents like this must have happened before, where ordinary citizens lost their lives due to the problems created by the VIPs. It is time the VIPs of this country found a solution to their security concerns and valued the lives of its people as they value their own.
SADIA SALIM
Karachi
THIS has reference to the write-up by Lt-Col (retd) S. Hamid Ali in Dawn Advertiser. While explaining the characteristics of army service, the writer modestly informs us that the service does not offer high monetary prospects. It may be true as far as the conventional routine is concerned, but there are exceptions. Fast emerging housing estates, army-backed enterprises, a lion’s share in civilian jobs, opportunities in civil contracting and much more await a retired serviceman. At times, civilian jobs do not match the opportunities available to their military counterparts.
Let us call a spade a spade.
H.N. KHAN
Karachi
IT has been eight months that the monthly profits as well as encashment of matured deposit certificates of the depositors of Islamic Investment Bank (IIB) have been stopped. In fact, all activities of the bank have been blocked since June.
Meanwhile, the poor depositors through no fault of theirs are suffering due to another case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan in the Peshawar High Court to liquidate the Islamic Investment Bank.
Despite instructions from the Peshawar High Court, why has the SECP been stubbornly discouraging and not cooperating with the parties who have come forward to purchase the bank to run it again?
According to the present provisional management and other sources at the IIB, the bank has enough assets to get back on its feet if other parties could invest about Rs 250-500 million.
The SECP must play the role of a problem solver rather than a problem creator to encourage investors to help boost the economy. There are more than 5,000 IIB depositors currently suffering financial hardship. Most of these people were living on the monthly profits from their deposits as their only source of income.
The president and prime minister are requested to look into the matter personally and direct the government departments concerned to provide a quick solution to the problem.
WAJID ALI KHAN
Mardan
THIS has reference to the Islamic Investment Bank fraud that took place seven months ago in June 2005. It has been long since the affair took place, but no questions or queries have been answered, with hundreds of depositors’ money stuck up.
The only savings I had was what my husband had left for me, which I had deposited in the Islamic Investment Bank. In these past months, I have neither got any “mahana munafa”(profit) nor has my principal amount been returned. Instead I have been given the run around by the bank employees.
Despite writing several letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, and getting numerous copies of letters sent by the SECP to the provisional manager appointed by the courts, I have not yet received a single reply as to the status of my savings. Instead, the bank employees have been falsely assuring the depositors that the employees themselves are trying to get new investors to take over the company, and every other day there is some notice or the other regarding new investors in the newspapers.
The SECP is aware of the present situation with the bank and should come out with an explanation.
Mrs Zeba Siddiqi
Karachi
FOR 364 days off the Roman calendar year, Pakistanis enjoy an uninterrupted supply of music and dance in a variety of ways. The high mark of every marriage ceremony is reached with blaring music emitted by hi-fi sound systems and frenzied dances performed by hosts and guests, male as well as female. Film and TV channels remain busy day and night rehearsing and recording music and dance numbers.
Music and dance performances on public stages and theatres win ear-splitting applause from enthralled and grateful audiences. Mobile phone sets that have become part of personal apparel, emit all sorts of musical sounds and ring any time of the day and night. Music centres that have mushroomed all over do roaring business.
Surprisingly, on the 365th day of the year, the religious groups wake up to realize that they have to cleanse the faithfuls’ character by enforcing a music-cum-dance gag. “Danda-bardar” forces of religious parties scout streets and lanes to swoop down on any party that celebrates the New Year with music and dance.
Is this just hypocrisy on the part of religious groups or is it their own peculiar way of welcoming the onset of the New Year by cruising around in groups and thrashing their fellow countrymen?
SAYED G.B. BOKHARI
Peshawar
THE entertainment-starved people of Pakistan have been dealt another blow. Pemra’s closure of 35 TV channels is mind boggling. Do the voiceless in this democracy have a say in the matter?
PARVEEN RAHIM
Karachi
AT Karachi Defence Housing Authority’s Phase II Extension, power went off seven times between 2 pm and 11 pm on Dec 21. Consumers should be compensated by the KESC for the hardship and trouble they go through due to all these unannounced and unscheduled outages. It is quite clear that unless the KESC is penalized for these blatant and all frequent breaches of contract of service, it will not mend its ways.
AALIA EHSEN
Karachi
KARACHI city nazim Mustafa Kamal while talking to the Japanese consul-general in the Karachi sought Japanese cooperation for installation of a desalination plan to cater to the water needs of the city.
The installing of desalination plants in Karachi is based on the reverse osmosis system (RO). This system produces 60-65 per cent of purified water and 40-35 per cent of rejected water containing about nine per cent salt. The rejected water is pumped back into the sea and this can destroy the eco-system of the coastline by a marked change in the osmotic pressure due to higher concentration of electrolyte (salt). The ocean contains about 2.7 per cent of dissolved sodium chloride (salt)
Most aquatic organisms are isotonic, i.e., they contain the same electrolyte concentration in their organism as is present in water. A marked change in the electrolyte concentration changes the osmotic pressure and adversely effects the eco-system and destroys most aquatic organism.
The other disadvantage of this system is the cost of the plant and its maintenance, due to its delicate osmotic membrane, which is very expensive and gets clogged within two to three years depending on the quality of feed water. The coastline of Saudi Arabia where desalination is done on a large scale is already facing a problem in the eco- system which has severely damaged aquatic organism all along the coastline. It is advisable to take these factors into account before installing desalination plant.
M.A. RATHOR
Karachi
THE recently-imposed ban on cable operators preventing them from airing several channels, including many Indian ones, is not only absurd but is also discriminatory.
Viewers who can afford decoders continue to watch these banned channels because Pemra can do zilch about it. I may add that when I was commissioner, council of complaints, Pemra, for two years, I vehemently opposed all kinds of bans and restrictions on cable operators. Would the present Commission CoC care to look into this discriminatory practice?
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
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