| May 13, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1427 |
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Praying for rain
Pakistan Post Office
Muzaffarabad Internet
Govt reforms
Uplift package for Zhob
Military’s role
Fuel policy
Cost of living
Letter to Bush
Railway system
Sugar supplies to USC
Service charge
Sugar crisis
IN their rejoinders (May 4) to my letter of May 1, Mr Sami Noosmar and Mr Haris Aziz have been unrealistic. Mr Noosmar is naive in believing the US and Europe have no designs against the Islamic world and he has failed to notice the numerous moves to gradually weaken and subjugate it permanently.
The earliest indicators were the obstructions created in the acquisition of nuclear power by the Muslims while ignoring Israel. Henry Kissinger’s threat in the 1970s to teach a lesson to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto if Pakistan did not abandon its plan was not without substance. Not content with its own sanctions, the US had even forced France not to sell a nuclear reprocessing plant to us. Subsequent actions against Libya, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and even Saudi Arabia to keep them from this path are no secret.
The attacks on Libya (when Col Qadhafi’s adopted daughter was killed), Sudan, where a harmless pharmaceutical factory was targeted, and the American haste to declare the events in Darfur as genocide shows their attitude towards the Muslims. It must be noted that the occupation or control of oil and gas producing or conducting Muslim nations has been of particular importance. Thus, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Chechnya and the Central Asian Republics all fit in. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries are already in the American grip.
The blind support by the US to Israel in persecuting the Palestinians and retaining their land by providing matchless military, economic and diplomatic backing and even bulldozers to destroy their homes and the current punishment for electing Hamas are also worth noting.
The machinations in Algeria and the enormous pressure on Malaysia a few years back, which understandably disillusioned and incensed the moderate Dr Mahathir Mohamed, are other examples. Preventing Muslim states from rescuing Bosnia during the Serbian genocide and withholding western intervention until irreparable damage had been done exposed western intentions. Nothing concrete has been done in 59 years to resolve the Kashmir issue, as opposed to East Timorese conflict.
Mr Aziz wants to know whether I was recommending the Taliban’s Islamic ideology or that of Malaysia, for instance. From the two British writers quoted by me, the answer should have been obvious; it accords with Iqbal’s vision. It is also preposterous of him to claim that the Holy Quran demands secularism and that the difference between Islam and secularism is merely of labels.
These are two entirely different paradigms, with Islam presenting a complete code of life pivoted on the concept of conscious and active surrender to the will of God to achieve peace in an integral sense. Secularism advocates an exclusively worldly philosophy of individual and social life, leaving hardly any room for divine will.
S. QADRI
Karachi
PRIME Minister Shaukat Aziz has urged the nation to pray for rain (Dawn, May 11). He had previously claimed that the progress and development in the country was due only to the policies of his government. Now it seems that he has suddenly had to turn to divine authority for help.
It is good that a banker has had to look towards the heavens for help, but it would be far better if some practical measures were taken to manage the water shortage.
The government can immediately enforce executive orders to save whatever water it can in this time of hardship. After all, as the famous saying goes: “If you fail to plan, you have planned to fail”.
BADAR JATOI
Karachi
PAKISTAN is going through a dry spell. According to Met experts, dry spells often last for up to 15 years. They are also a warning that drought can take an acute form, especially in Balochistan and Sindh, unless water reservoirs are better managed.
All of us, including farmers, civil society and the government are responsible for this crisis. The per capita amount of water available is decreasing due to the increasing population. Our irrigation system is centuries-old whereas the most productive agrarian economies are using latest irrigation methods such as drip, sprinkler or concrete drainage system. It will take us decades to acquire modern artificial irrigation methods to reduce the loss of water.
Moreover, for decades our governments blindly planted eucalyptus trees which are known for reducing the salinity and moisture in soil. According to an agriculture expert, a mature eucalyptus tree has the capacity to absorb a tubewell’s worth of water in its life span. We have millions of such trees all over Pakistan. This means that tons of water has been absorbed into the trunks and leaves of these unproductive and useless trees.
PROF M. AZAM
Islamabad
APROPOS of Sabahat Mohammad’s letter ‘Pakistan Post Office’ (March 2), it transpires that the correspondent expected to get records from the TOEFL organisation through ordinary mail from the US. As it was not received, the Pakistan Post Office was blamed.
I would like to clarify that the booking, sorting, transmission and delivery operations of foreign and domestic ordinary mail are not recorded at any stage, hence the articles cannot be tracked. The Pakistan Post Office has no information whether TOEFL handed over the ordinary letter addressed to the correspondent to US Post. Ordinary international airmail from the US and other countries is received at both the Islamabad and Karachi international mail offices.
Any mail wrongly received by any of the two offices is immediately dispatched to its correct destination for subsequent delivery to the addressees.
An ordinary letter (from or to the US) weighing 100gms costs Rs105 ($1.72) postage while if it is booked, registered and insured it costs Rs175 ($2.86) which is recorded and can be tracked. The Pakistan Post Office also offers international expedited mail service (EMS) whereby an article (from or to the US) weighing up to 1,000gms can be booked for Rs675 ($11.06).
Every stage is traceable on line. Therefore, EMS is recommended for transmission
of sensitive documents like those awaited by Sabahat Mohammad.
For initial information and inquiry about ordinary domestic and international letters, parcels, packets, ordinary domestic money orders, domestic and international registered letters and parcels, the post office located in the addressee’s area of residence offers its services. We regret the inconvenience caused to the correspondent and would be glad to render any assistance.
ABDUL GHAFOOR
Deputy Controller, Pakistan Posts, 40-A, PECHS, Block-6, Sharea Faisal, Karachi
SINCE the introduction of Internet in Muzaffarabad, the users in this town have only one Internet service provider, Paknet, thanks to the Special Communications Organisation, a subsidiary of the Pakistan army, which has been running the telecom network in AJK with the monopoly since 1976.
The Internet speed is pathetic and what is more agonising is that the ISP has not opened any local helpline although the number of Internet users here runs into hundreds. If one has to a query regarding the service, he has to make an NWD call to its helpline in Islamabad and wait for a minimum of five minutes until any of the ISP’s staffers is free to take the call.
It is said that the ISP had installed an outmoded system in Muzaffarabad four years ago and it has not been replaced despite the growing number of users, particularly after last year’s devastating earthquake. The service has been in total suspension since May 5, with no one offering any reason for this.
Will the chief executive of Paknet tell us who the desperate users of this quake-hit town should approach for remedy?
ZEESHAN NAQASH
Muzaffarabad
DR Ishrat Husain has has been named chairman of the National Commission on Government Reforms, set up recently for removing obstacles “in the way of efficient provision of services to achieve a visible improvement in the quality of life for the common man”.
What has necessitated the setting up of the commission five decades after independence is not clear?
However, it augurs well that at long last it has been realised by the government that ordinary people are badly affected by rules and procedures at every tier of governant.
The question now is whether Dr Husain will be able to improve the lot of the people by simplifying rules and procedures “at all tiers of governance, from local to provincial and federal levels” that have made their life a hell.
Dr Husain had turned senior bank employees into ‘sacrificial animals’. Whenever the SBP intended to lay off its employees, they were invariably its old employees. The employees who joined the SBP through the State Bank officers training (SBOT) scheme have been/are very dear to the bank’s management.
Since Dr Husain did nothing for the cause of the poor employees of the bank, he will do little in his present capacity as chairman of the National Commission on Government Reforms.
ABDUL QADIR
Karachi
ON April 3, 2005 the president announced a development package for Zhob city at a public meeting and assured of its immediate implementation.
The package included gas supply to the town, waiving off agriculture bank loans, 32,000 bulldozer hours for farmers of Zhob and the establishment of an army cadet school in the district headquarters.
One year has passed but nothing has been done. The planning and development department of Balochistan has withheld the Rs60 million sanctioned by the president/ prime minister for Zhob district as well as releases in respect of electricity, sewerage, roads, etc.
If the president and the prime minister cannot ensure implementation of their proclamations, they should not make any commitment to the public.
S. MUHAMMAD ALAM MANDOKHAIL
Zhob
I AGREE with Lt-Col (retired) Safir A. Siddiqui that the “army is the most organised outfit”. But the question arises how does it achieve this distinction?
The fictional poverty of army officers (not NCOs and JCOs) has been painted a wee bit too much by Col. Safir. In your own newspaper only a few years back a retired AGPR officer compared the balance-sheets of a ‘general officer of the army’ with that of a vice-chancellor in the same grade/NPS under the heading “The worth of a general”. The net worth of the retiring general was Rs11.21 million whereas the highest-ranking educator had a worth of only Rs3.21 million rupees at retirement. So much for the poverty of the colonel’s band.
Who does not know that most of the land-owning civil organisations are run and headed by former militarymen? Civil lands are doled out at dirt-cheap rates to DHAs (e.g., KPT/KDA/PQA) where allottees are easily able to sell their allotment ‘purchees’ in millions.
The colonel rightly mentions Islamabad city with contempt, but has he forgotten that the blunder of making Islamabad the federal capital was the brainchild of a field marshal of his own service?
Yes, the army builds ‘amazing parks’ (and many other things too) for its civilian brothers but on what exorbitant rates through FWO/MES?
The army-run schools and NUSTs provide not only guaranteed jobs for retired military officers but they are also an insurance plan for inducting the second and third generations (too) in army jobs. It is ironic that the fee structure at these institutions is different for uniformed braves, non-uniformed mujahideen, retired POWs, paramilitary ‘ghazis’ and the civilians. Even milkpacks, cigarettes and groceries are cheaper for the army.
The colonel must have passed his ISSB and must not be so naive as to try to count the plum jobs grabbed by his colleagues on his ‘finger-tips’. He will need the finger of a centipede to count the jobs held by military men in the KPT alone.
Yes, not only army-wallahs but all pensioners should be allowed and facilitated to go on working and earning their bread. But not in governmental or semi-governmental organisations. Army men are welcome to prove their worth, utility and competence in private or multinational organisations if they dare.
Dr FAIZAN IQBAL BALOCH
Karachi
IT is reported that the “government has decided not to provide gas to the cement sector in future and divert additional gas supplies from power stations after 2011”. Why are we changing once again to good the old days of ‘golden goose’ furnace oil imports? Obviously a lot of people stand to make a lot of money with furnace oil import as was evident after the 1994 energy policy.
Natural gas is the fuel of choice everywhere in the world and we want to avoid this and select the worst possible option both economically and with serious pollution hazard. Also, since the fuel is very corrosive, cost of major equipment is high, with further losses due to low efficiency. Why should we select a fuel which is costly and also increases the equipment cost?
It is common knowledge that large combined cycle power plants, operating on clean fuel (natural gas, naphtha, (kerosene), LPG) cost only $400-500 per kW capacity. The same power plant suitable for furnace oil or even LDO will cost nearly double and with reduced efficiency. And we still want to advocate power plants based on furnace oil since this fuel has a big margin for ‘negotiation’.
AINUL ABEDIN
Karachi
THE media has been informing the public that the economy is booming, that foreign exchange reserves are on the increase, that poverty is on the decrease, literacy is expanding and, above all, that Pakistan is now one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia.
But how can these be justified in the face of the ever increasing prices of the daily necessities of life, meat and vegetables, pulses, POL, gas, electricity and that glittering metal known as gold that has already crossed the Rs13,000 mark per 10 grams.
If seen objectively, the coin that we call our rupee is fast declining in value, even though it appears stable against the greenback. The bottom line is that a Pakistani citizen is finding it increasingly difficult to survive the onslaught of rising prices. The future prospects appear to be darker than one can imagine. All criteria of price determination are fast eroding.
It is time that that steps were taken to stabilise the rupee. Efforts made in this direction must be visible as issuing of statements is not likely to help.
SENIOR CITIZEN
Karachi
APROPOS of the editorial ‘Ahmadinejad’s letter to Bush’ (May 10), I agree with you that the American president’s real intention is a regime change in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mr Bush is just manipulating the situation towards that end and the world should be prepared for the catastrophe which will be worse than the tragedy that has overtaken Iraq.
MEHR IMRAN SIAL
Lahore
THE minister of railways has said that a railway track will be built between Gwadar and Peshawar. The existing railway system is in a state of decay. I think the minister should travel from Peshawar to Karachi to find out for himself the condition of the Pakistan Railways.
Faster train service is needed between major cities instead of wasting money on the proposed project. It is pity that the travel time between Multan and Karachi is almost 16 hours by train, whereas the same distance is covered in half the time in other countries.
Moreover, circular trains are needed in Karachi and in Lahore. The railway system is worth spending billions of rupees on if the cash is utilised properly. Otherwise, more and more people will resort to travelling by road.
RIZWAN AHMED
Karachi
THE government has exempted sugar mills from paying 10 per cent sales tax, i.e., about Rs5 per kilo, for sales to utility stores. But who will check if a mill shows that most of its commodity is sold to utility stores?
Why does the government do these things, create loopholes for more and more profits for sugar mills at the expense of the consumers?
KHANZADA EMRAN
Karachi
I WENT to a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan to pay my overdue PTCL telephone bill. To my surprise the cashier did not give me the remaining balance of Rs10 after deducting the bill amount.
On inquiry he said that he had deducted the money as service charge. When I asked him for a receipt for the service charge, his colleague joined in and also maintained that these were orders from the high-up and a circular in this regard will be issued soon.
Since there was no available circular or receipt to be had, can anyone at NBP explain why such a practice is under way and into which account all the money collected goes?
ASIF ANSARI
Karachi
THE Public Accounts Committee has been quoted as saying that 20 sugar mills are responsible for creating the sugar crisis in the country (Dawn, May 11). Most of the mills are owned by officials in the government. The president of PML-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as well as federal ministers Humayun Akhter Khan and Jehangir Tareen are among mill owners. The news report has made it easy to understand why the NAB probe into the sugar crisis was shelved within three days of its initiation.
AMANULLAH SIPRA
Islamabad
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