| March 17, 2006 | Friday | Safar 16, 1427 |
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Consumer rights
Waziristan
Needed: jail reforms
Why do we burn flags?
Milosevic’s death
Expediting case hearings
Taiser Town scheme
JPMC house officer
Basant
Perspective on India
Tobacco epidemic
Personal details
MR Vaseem Jafarey in his article (Feb 24) has recounted the history and background of the Kalabagh dam referring to events that took place two decades ago.
The meeting of the Ecnec referred to by Mr Jafarey must have taken place in 1985 because prime minister Junejo was given a briefing at Peshawar on Nov 13, 1985 which was subsequent to the Ecnec meeting.
Mr Jafarey has correctly mentioned that during the Ecnec meeting Dr Mahbubul Haq “brushed aside” the concerns of the NWFP pointed out by me. This was rather unfortunate because it was my duty to convey the viewpoint of my province faithfully. Such forums provide an opportunity for every province to be heard which was denied on this occasion.
The important issue of flooding of the Peshawar valley merits clarification. The Project Planning Consultants Report (1984) had referred to the maximum flood level of 951 feet above sea level which was last recorded at Nowshera in 1929. They were of the opinion that such floods have an average return period of about 100 years.
This was, therefore, adopted as a design parameter. To safeguard a number of important facilities from flooding in the likely event of the one in 100-year flood recurring, it was recommended by the consultants to relocate some communication facilities such as roads, railway lines, bridges and telecommunications.
Additionally, the consultants had recommended provision of 25-feet-high dykes to protect 18 settlements. The total length of these dykes was about 28 miles, of which 18 miles were for Nowshera town alone, dividing the town into 15 compartments. The retention level of the reservoir was 925 feet above mean sea level.
The NWFP decided to delineate the position on the ground because:
(a) the desk and model studies, especially on sedimentation, were not considered reliable or adequate;
(b) the marking of high flood levels by Wapda on the basis of the 925 feet retention level was considered safe by the organization notwithstanding the relocation of facilities and provision of dykes.
When flood level markings caused alarm and apprehensions amongst the general public and a campaign evolved against the construction of the dam, Wapda sent out its teams to conduct a fresh assessment. As a result, new flood levels were indicated to minimise the damage.
A comparative table was shown to the prime minister at the briefing of November 1985. He observed that it was not clear to him as to why huge consultancy fees were paid to international consultants when Wapda could carry out fresh surveys within months to come up with new flood level data. These figures were in conflict with the Project Planning Consultants report.
All along the stated position of Wapda was that no damage will be caused at the 925-feet retention level with or without a flood. Later, it modified its position and reduced the reservoir retention level to 915 feet to minimize damage, thus contradicting its earlier stand.
It is sad and unfortunate that Wapda did not involve the stakeholders at the project planning and design stages. The provinces only had access to the consultants reports which were made available in 1984. Had the federating units been involved at earlier stages, a great deal of suspicion and mistrust could have been avoided. If they had been heard and accommodated earlier, there would not have been the controversy and bitterness which we saw in recent months.
MUHAMMAD AZAM KHAN
Peshawar
WORLD Consumer Rights Day is observed on March 15 to highlight the significance and protection of consumer rights and interests. This year, it was observed as a global campaign on energy with the theme Energy: sustainable access for all. Energy is of fundamental importance to public welfare and the well-being of consumers worldwide. The provision of energy and unsustainable consumption and its impact on the future of the planet is one of the biggest challenges facing us all.
At present, whilst G8 countries account for over 65 per cent of global GDP and 47 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, some two billion consumers have no access at all to electricity. Others face frequent blackouts and chronic affordability problems. Over a billion people in the industrialized countries use some 60 per cent of the worlds commercial energy supply, while five billion people living in the developing countries consume the remaining.
Pakistan faces varied consumer problems related to energy such as availability, affordability and sustainable access. Along with that, widespread use of low quality fuel and the dramatic increase in vehicles on Pakistans roads have led to significant air pollution. Although Pakistans energy consumption is still low by world standards, lead and carbon are major air pollutants in the cities.
According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2004-2005, the per capita energy consumption in Pakistan is currently low at 14 MBtu that accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of total world energy consumption as compared to 92 MBtu for Malaysia and 34 MBtu for China. The number of electricity consumers had increased to 14.7 million by March 2005 compared to 13.9 million in the same period last year. This shows an increase of six per cent over last year and a growth of 79 per cent in the last 13 years. With that the number of villages with electricity has increased to 87,698 by March 2005 or 11.3 percent over 2003-04.
The potential for renewable energy has remained largely unutilized in Pakistan except in the area of mini and micro-hydel power generation. The renewable energy sector has struggled against institutional and policy failures, and optimal exploration of additional sources of energy supply has not gone very far.
In view of the increasing energy demands, there is a need for a holistic energy exploration, distribution, and regulation mechanism so that every citizen can be provided with the basic need of energy. Steps should be taken to promote exploitation of sustainable alternative energy sources and consumer education on sustainable energy consumption patrons.
RIZWANA SHABIR
Research Assistant Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP)
AS the world celebrates Consumer Rights Day, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided in its wisdom to stop its investigation of the sugar price hike manipulated by a nexus of mill owners and hoarders.
There could not be a more detestable manifestation of the utter disregard for the rights of common Pakistanis. Those in power are so assured of their perpetual hold on power that they do not care a damn about the frustrations of the citizens.
It is the moral obligation of a government to protect its citizens from being exploited by the powerful elite. The state in civilised, democratic, sovereign countries comes to the aid of the weak and poor. It taxes the rich to feed the poor and look after the sick. Unfortunately in Pakistan the state has come out to protect the rich and prevent their prosecution for crimes committed against the people of Pakistan. NAB’s decision to stop its investigation of sugar prices shows the void between the rulers and the ruled.
ANEELA CHANDIO
Hyderabad
IN simple language the government asked its citizens living in North and South Waziristan to register all those individuals who had come from Afghanistan and taken permanent residence in the tribal belt so that they could be made Pakistani citizens.
However, as the situation stands today, the non-obeying citizens challenged the writ of the land, defying the para-military forces by shooting on their convoys and even killing a Waziri elder who sided with the government. Calling themselves Taliban, they occupied government buildings and challenged the writ of the land. A parallel government of Waziristan was in the making.
The leader of the opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on the floor of the house that the tribesmen have taken up arms for their defence and as such had not violated the law of the land.
How can their actions be anything but a gross violation of the writ of the land? How long can any government tolerate anarchy and total lawlessness?
The government has to establish its authority if it is not to disintegrate. We have to make the masses understand that ground realities have changed drastically and we cannot live by the 17th-century laws of Afghanistan where might was right.
If the Maulana is a true Pakistani let him shed a few tears for these valiant soldiers who are dying daily for no other reason but to defend the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
SARDAR AHMED SHAH JAN
Peshawar
THE Supreme Court chief justice deserves praise for initiating some needed reforms. While serving as a judge of the Balochistan High Court, he had shown keen interest in prisoners’ welfare, particularly quick disposal of cases. In this regard, he took the commendable step of directing all jails to submit a monthly statement of under-trial prisoners to the BHC, which showed the period of confinement and offence allegedly committed by every under-trial prisoner. It resulted in the release of prisoners committed under Section 109, 107, CrPC on personal bonds, apart from accelerating the disposal of pending cases. It would be good results if this submission of monthly statement of under-trial prisoners was made mandatory.
A few more reforms need to be made:
1. The weight of the bread (58 grams) given at breakfast should be increased to 116 grams.
2. “Dal” is given for lunch and dinner five days a week. In case of the latter, it should be substituted since a majority of prisoners cook their own meals. As such, the cooked dal goes to waste.
3. Boneless beef weighing 58 grams is given twice a week. The weight of this beef should be raised to 116 grams.
4. Quantity and quality of ration articles should be frequently checked by judicial officials.
5. A sound system of giving preference to appeals of financially weak convicts, particularly condemned prisoners, needs to be made.
6. Short-term convicts employed in jail gardens and officers’ bungalows are made to wear chain-fetters which impairs their self-respect and dignity. These should be done away with.
SHEIKH G. MURTAZA
(Ex-superintendent of jails, Balochistan),
Karachi
IT is standard practice in this part of the world that whenever people protest against some policies of a western government, besides devastating public and private property, they also start burning the flag of the country implicated. This is despite the fact that the state concerned did not as such commit any wrong nor did its flag have anything to do with the wrongful act.
The flag is a revered object of a nation — a symbol of the state, representing the nation’s shared aims and solidarity to which their attachment is strong. Desecrating the flag by putting it to the torch, people are unknowingly hurting the feelings of an entire community the same way as a newspaper committing a sacrilege in the garb of “freedom of expression” took the whole world of Islam by storm.
My appeal is that even at the most emotional and charged moments in life we must be rational and avoid adopting unwarranted reactions. Otherwise, we will only be losing friends, those who at a time of crisis have always demonstrated solidarity with us.
ALTAF HUSSAIN QURESHI
Hyderabad
IT is ironic in a macabre sort of way that today Milosevic’s own people would rather have him buried in Moscow than his homeland Serbia in whose name he carried out the forcible removal of the majority of non-Serbs by unleashing on them unimaginable terror. Thousands of men were tortured, women raped, children butchered and all buried indiscriminately in mass graves because they were not pure-blooded Serbs.
To facilitate his evil agenda, Milosevic manipulated Serbian state-run media to spread exaggerated and false messages of ethnically-based attacks by Bosnian Muslims and Croats against Serbs. His intention was to create an atmosphere of fear and hatred among Serbs living in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meanwhile driven by expansionist ideas, Milosevic attempted to forcibly remove the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from approximately one-third of the territory of the Republic of Croatia, an area he planned would become part of a new Serb-dominated state.
Serbian police units and paramilitary attacked and took control of towns and villages, plundering and destroying public and private property including homes, religious, historical and cultural buildings. In the end, virtually the whole of the Croat and other non-Serb civilian population were forcibly removed, deported or killed in the area.
From January to June 1999, in an effort to ensure continued Serbian control over the province of Kosovo, the Serb forces began to target Kosovo Albanians. Villages were shelled, homes were looted and plundered and 800,000 Kosovo Albanians were driven out or killed. Now the same Serbia in whose name these atrocities were committed is reluctant to give this man a place to rest. It’s no wonder Milosevic killed himself.
SHAMA KHAN
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
A WRIT petition was lodged with the Lahore High Court by the Institute of Health Management, Lahore, in May 2005. Citing personal reason, Justice Hamid Ali Shah declined to hear the petition on June 20, 2005.
The first hearing took place in the court of Justice Muhammad Bilal Khan on July 25, 2005. Later, it was listed for hearing on Oct 6, 2005 and Nov 24, 2005. Recently it was listed for hearing on March 7. It could not be taken up before the rising of the court. However, lists are usually too long to be disposed of and one-third or more of the petitions may be left out. There may be a gap of several months between dates of hearing and such a system inordinately delays disposal of cases. I hope the chief justice of the LHC will streamline hearing of cases and ensure prompt justice.
PROF (DR) MANSOORUL HASSAN ALVI
Lahore
KARACHI’s development project Taiser Town (scheme-45) was announced some time back to provide cheap housing. About 125,0000 people submitted applications to get plots. Except for a few, others have not yet received plots or refunds, though the government has authorised a bank to disburse these.
Every now and then you stand in a queue only to be told by the bank that your name is not on the list and you should come back fortnight later. The relevant authorities should look into the matter.
MUHAMMAD ARSHAD
Karachi
THIS has reference to the letter “Diploma fees” (March 4). The truth is that after six months of our house job that started from September 2005 we have not got a single penny. It is right that our pay is the concern of the principal of the Sindh Medical College but for the last six months he has shown no interest in this matter. Whenever we ask him about pay, he always says: “Wait for 10-15 days, you will get paid.” This has been going on since last December.
DR SANA REHMAN
Karachi
THIS is in reference to the letter “Basant” by Hassan Altaf (March 13) in which he has suggested that in order to prevent the loss of life people should stay inside their homes.
I would like to ask him how he expects 15 million people of this beautiful city to sit home for two days without carrying on with their lives? Basant should be banned for good or should only be celebrated in the open grounds and fields. This way precious lives can be saved.
ALI M. KHAN
Lahore
K. HUSSAIN ZIA wrote a letter (March 13) to put things in perspective vis-a-vis India being an economic power house. He claimed that the size of India’s economy barely equals that of Holland. Turns out that in 2005 India’s GDP was $12.1 trillion (US), while Holland’s GDP for 2005 was $329 billion. India’s economy is more than 30 times bigger than Holland’s.
D. DAMERLA
Toronto, Canada
WHILE tobacco use is on the decline in most other countries of the world, sadly it is on the rise in Pakistan. A survey conducted by the Aga Khan University showed that 40 per cent men and eight per cent of women smoke on a regular basis in this country. If we include the use of tobacco in the form of ‘gutka’, ‘paan’, and ‘naswar’, then the total number of people using tobacco is probably the highest in the world. The World Health Organization has predicted that about 500 million people in the world today will eventually be killed by tobacco use. More than half of these deaths will be of those who are now children and teenagers.
Tobacco advertising has a strong influence on children and teenagers. Most countries have completely banned tobacco advertising in order to discourage the youth from taking up smoking. The federal health minister announced the Prohibition of Smoking Ordinance in Oct 2002 but hardly any attempt was made to implement this law.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan should direct the authorities concerned to take practical steps in order to fully implement ordinance.
PROF. JAVAID KHAN AKU,
Karachi
THIS is with reference to an advertisement (Dawn, March 9) by a reputable public sector organisation based in Islamabad seeking IT professionals. The ad also laid down a specimen of the application form. To my surprise, I noticed that the personal details required included the applicant’s religion and sect. Why is this public sector organisation indirectly promoting sectarianism and dividing the nation?
ANIS SIDDIQUI
Islamabad
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