| May 9, 2006 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1427 |
CDGF towns aggravate miseries of citizens
WHILE most of us would admit that Pakistan is far from being the perfect state, it is difficult to believe that our country has joined the ranks of six poor African states, Iraq, Haiti and Afghanistan in the top ten list of the 2006 Failed States Index (FSI) of 146 countries, which was published in the May/June 2006 issue of the magazine Foreign Policy.
Even more unbelievable is the fact that we have been placed in 9th position while war-torn and western-troop occupied Afghanistan is placed 10th. (In the 2005 FSI, Afghanistan was 11th position and Pakistan, better off at 34th position.)
Despite many chronic social, economic and security problems, Pakistan has not been usually cited as an example of a failed or even failing state in international articles on this topic.
For example, in the article “The New Nature of Nation-State Failure” by Robert I. Rotberg published in The Washington Quarterly in 2002, a string of countries was mentioned but not Pakistan. These include African states like Sudan, Zaire, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Angola, Liberia, Burundi, Chad, Kenya, Nigeria, Niger, Burkino Faso and other countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Lebanon, Argentina, Colombia, and even Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Similarly, in the article accompanying the 2005 FSI, which appeared in the July/August 2005 issue of the magazine Foreign Policy, Pakistan was not mentioned at all. The countries cited in this article were the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Philippines, Afghanistan, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Angola, Haiti, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Iraq, Chad, and Yemen. Pakistan was not even cited in the article’s list of “unstable” states which included countries like Bangladesh, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kenya, Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia and Ukraine.
How is it that out of the blue in 2006, we suddenly made it to the top ten list of failed states?
According to the country profile report on Pakistan which can be viewed on the 2006 FSI website, out of the 12 social, economic and political/military indicators determining each country’s placing, four indicators registered a significant increase in the score from 2005 to 2006, which is responsible for Pakistan’s significant jump on the FSI from 34th position in 2005 to 9th position in 2006.
According to the report, the sharp increase in the score of these four indicators, viz., Refugees and Displaced Persons, Demographic Pressures, Group Grievance, and Economy, were mainly brought about by the October 2005 earthquake.
The report also mentioned other continued failings in Pakistan. These include inadequate public services throughout the country, with much of the population not having access to basic medical services, particularly outside of urban areas; low levels of foreign investment and a 2005 inflation rate of nine per cent; and that 32 per cent of the population were living below the poverty line although the real number is likely to be much higher.
Other failings cited by the report include the highly corrupt civilian police and paramilitaries who commit human rights abuses and still often act with impunity despite recent reforms; and an overburdened judiciary and an underpaid civil service, both of whom are susceptible to outside manipulation, the judiciary particularly from powerful religious leaders who monitor the proper interpretation of Shariah law or the Hudood ordinances.
One significant failing cited by the report was the Inter- Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) which it described as a “shadowy” institution that “continued to operate as a state within a state”. This, the report said, was responsible for the continued high score on one of the 12 indicators, Security Apparatus.
The report also said that the ISI is believed to wield significant support from Islamic jihadist groups, and that tensions between the agency and the Musharraf government have been exacerbated by the systematic crackdown on religious groups and madrassas.
The report ended with the following prognosis: “The future of Pakistan is largely dependent on the ability of General Musharraf to maintain the precarious balancing act between cooperating in the Global War on Terror while appeasing the powerful military and religious leaders that are crucial to his power base.
In addition, to prevent wider regional destabilisation emanating from the lawless border zone between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Musharraf must find a formula that allows for tribal leaders to maintain autonomy but not at the cost of funding the insurgency. International efforts to rebuild the areas of Pakistan affected by the earthquake have been steady, but there still needs to be a stronger government-led drive to address wider Pakistan’s chronic poverty and endemic corruption.”
The 2006 FSI, in which Pakistan is placed 9th, divided a total of 146 countries into four categories: the first 28 countries in the red “alert” category; the next 78 countries in the orange “warning” category which include countries like China (57th), India (93rd) and Malaysia (98th); the next 27 countries in the yellow “monitoring” category which include countries like the US (128th), France (129th), UK (130th) and Singapore (133rd); and the last 13 countries in the green “sustainable” category, the top three being Finland (144th), Sweden (145th) and Norway (146th).
In the 2005 FSI, Pakistan in 34th position was the last country in the orange “warning” category, having missed being in the red “alert” category by just one place. (The 2005 FSI consisted of only 76 countries divided into two categories: the first 33 states in the red “alert” category and the next 43 states in the orange “warning” category.)
Even if we can somehow in the next 2007 FSI move back up at least to the previous 34th position, this will take us out of the red “alert” category into the orange “warning” category, placing us in the position of countries like Egypt, Indonesia and Syria who were ranked 31st, 32nd and 33rd respectively in the 2006 FSI. The higher our placing in the “warning” category, the better off we will be.
We are definitely not willing to accept the tag of a failed or even a failing state. Even the visiting US Undersecretary for International Trade claimed last week in Islamabad that the US government did not consider Pakistan a failed state because it had the leadership, capability and necessary policies to keep economic progress moving ahead.
Furthermore, one positive comment in the above 2006 FSI country profile report on Pakistan is the “promising” economic trend in 2005 of seven per cent GDP growth, “driven by gains on industrial production and the gradual shift away from dependency on the agricultural sector”.
However, we must admit the fact that, a strong military notwithstanding, we are still basically a weak state - economically, socially and politically - with the potential to deteriorate into the stage of failing state or even failed state if we do not sustain efforts in improving our economy as well as focus efforts on upgrading our social services (health, public utilities, judiciary and the police) and strengthening our democratic political institutions.
THE City District Government Faisalabad, which was created in August last year by dividing the City and Saddar tehsils in four towns and converting four other rural-based tehsils in town administrations, could not become operative in a real sense of the word for lack of financial resources and the communication gap between town administrations and the CDGF.
Main objectives of creating the CDGF and upgrading of rural-based tehsils in towns could not be achieved as well while there is no significant change in the set up or resolution of problems of the people.
Virtually, problems and miseries of the people have aggravated manifold due to a variety of reasons and not a single penny has been allocated by the CDGF for the uplift plans through towns.
City District Nazim Rana Zahid Tauseef claimed that he was making frantic efforts to change the destiny of the district through urbanisation and provision of civic amenities, particularly drinking water, drainage and transport facilities. He made a clean breast that his efforts needed more attention and support from provincial and federal governments.
Instead of responding readily and adopting positive policies, local government’s financial experts prefer to go for artificial arrangements as evident from the CDG budget document showing a huge amount of Rs860 million as a tentative grant in the shape of future funds from the president quota.
The deficit of hundreds of millions of rupees in CDG affairs is a matter of concern and finance managers are planning to take some prerogative steps for the preparation of budget and its mandatory approval from the House. But the fact remains that if the enormous amount is not provided by federal or provincial government, the CDGF will collapse financially.
On the other hand, financial experts claim that the elected house of the CDGF has miserably failed in evolving any strategy to generate funds from its own resources and it only concentrates on insignificant and irrelevant matters which cause a financial mishap.
While the National Logistic Cell (NLC), which has been solely responsible for roads rehabilitation for the last four years, has also rolled back its projects for want of required funds, coming to a halt over a dozen mega road projects as a result.
A tug of war is also going on between the CDGF and its eight town administrations over the issue of controlling the sanitary wing and some other issues, like the sale of official land, collection of fee from contractors and imposition of taxes on various matters. The district administration is of the view that it has the power to take charge of the sanitation wing in accordance with the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2005.
About half a dozen directives have been issued to towns for the withdrawal of the staff. But the major point is that the CDGF is incapable of paying a huge amount of over Rs200 million annually. Town administrations are adopting delaying tactics to pay monthly salaries to sanitary workers on the pretext that the matter should be dealt by the CDGF. Some towns have not paid salaries to the sanitary staff for the last three months.
The massive amount of funds allocated for the welfare of senior citizens, orphans and special children have been transferred for the payment to contractors of various uplift schemes.
Giving details of future strategies and present projects of the local government, DCO Azam Suleman Khan claims that a short-term uplift plan is being finalised for systematic, scientific and planned development in the district.
About short-term measures, the DCO identifies water supply, sewerage, health, education and infrastructures as major priorities adding that the inner circle of Faisalabad has already secondary and tertiary supply lines with other infrastructure.
Efforts are now being made to focus on city slums developed around industrial pockets, he says and adds that it will play a major role in looking up the sanitation besides bringing a qualitative improvement in the over all socio-economic condition of its residents.
About roads, the DCO says that Rs20 million has been earmarked for immediate repair and maintenance of roads. We will also concentrate on the improvement of existing infrastructure which has been experiencing continuous neglect for the last many years. Under long-term plans, a proposal to transfer five main city roads to multinational companies for regular maintenance and future expansion is also being actively considered, he says. Sustained efforts are required with sufficient funding to undertake the short as well as long-term plans for its futuristic needs.
Regarding the political, social and structural status of Faisalabad, the DCO informs that it is a far cry from Karachi and Lahore, which are entirely based on urban areas and are enjoying the status of provincial metropolises.
Contrary to these cities, Faisalabad is still divided into urban and rural areas with its specific socio-political values. However, he claims that it is not getting required development funds as compared to its contributions towards the national economy.
He is critical of the incapacity of the Wasa to undertake new mega projects to meet the future needs of the city adding that the authority will be strengthened and expanded to increase its capacity. However, he says a project to supply potable water to every union council is also in the pipeline in addition to the existing JICA-funded project to pump an additional 20 million water to the city’s eastern part.
Although under the devolution of power plan, the union council nazim, the first tier of the local government system, is the backbone of the present system, ground realities are that nazims are denied their right to prepare development plans, formation of policies and involvement in the community participation.
There is not a single union council out of a total 289 in the district, which has the basic infrastructure for running its affairs. No visible change is witnessed for inhabitants who are still running from pillar to post for the resolution of their petty problems.
Similarly, town administrations, which should be supporting arms of the CDGF, feel that they have been ignored and due powers are being usurped by the CDGF. In such controversies, the entire administration is in a fix and prefers to stay away and just enjoys the prevalent situation leaving the 6.5 million population of the district in sheer frustration.