| May 14, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1427 |
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Anti-pollution drive
EIA hearings
Ensuring citizens’ security
Post office dilemma
PTCL working
Inefficient power plants
President’s interview
Parking ban
Looking back
‘Options in Fata’
Ownership rights
Karachi roads
ALL peace-loving men throughout the world must be afflicted with sorrow on learning that President Bush has not ruled out the possibility of a nuclear strike against Iran if it does not give up its nuclear programme.
The likelihood of a military attack on Iran has been reported earlier in the New Yorker magazine in an article written by Seymour Hersh, who said that Bush and Dick Cheney had made up their minds to ‘resolve’ the Iranian crisis before they left office and that military planners who hard at work to perfect an intervention plan. It appears that the hawks at the White House comprising Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice are pressing hard for a military strike against Iran.
Iran has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear programme is purely of a civilian nature and it has a right to producer low uranium enrichment to fabricate fuel for its energy projects. The America-attitude is discriminatory and irrational as it has never questioned Israeli’s “right” to make nuclear weapons and has shown no concern over the stockpile of nuclear weapons possessed by Israel.
Similarly, Washington has accorded recognition to India as a nuclear power and has pledged further assistance to New Delhi in its nuclear energy programme. The Americans do not recognize Iran’s sovereign right to use nuclear for power production and have rejected its offer to work out a peaceful solution to the problem.
The Americans want to “do a Iraq” in Iran. They supplied Saddam Husein with arms and chemicals which enabled him to develop chemical weapons, which he used against Iran. To them, Saddam was a new Shah in the making. They tolerated his ruthlessness and mass killing’s did not preach human rights and democracy to him and instigated him to invade Iran.
But Saddam lost their favour when he invaded Kuwait in 1990. Ultimately, American power toppled him when the US and Britain invaded Iraq on the pretext that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. The motive was to destroy Iraq, which was considered a threat to Isreal and to America’s interests in the region.
The Americans are not interested in democracy in the Middle East; they are quite happy with the Mubaraks, the Saudis and the Sheikhs who serve and protect their interests in return for the American guarantee for protecting their thrones.
The other Arab states like Libya, Algeria, Tunisia Morocco, etc have become subdued and raise no voices against America. It is only Iran which is defying America and whose rising power in their region could challenge American hegemony.
What would be the outcome of the American invasion of Iran? One thing is very clear: Iran’s military and economic power would be crippled and there will be consequence for the region on the whole. Masses in the “moderate” Arab states would be radicalised and there will be more terrorists than America could hope to defeat. As the situation in Iraq show, the War an Iran is unlikely to help America attain its long-term interests in the Middle East.
A. S. Pingar
Karachi
AS a preamble of its three-year vehicular emission control programme (VECP), the Sindh government has launched a drive to check smoke-emitting vehicles in Karachi. This is being launched on the Sindh High Court’s order last month to have these vehicles removed from the roads within three months.
This is not the first time that the court has taken notice of vehicular emissions. Supreme Court Judge Salim Akhtar, on Nov 1, 1993, had inter alia, ordered noise and smoke pollution created by rickshaws to be curhed. In 2001, provincial Ombudsman Haziqul Khairi had taken suo motu action by ordering the police to act.
It is deplorable that those who have issued fake fitness certificates to these smoke emitting vehicles by accepting bribes have not yet been included in the current drive. The root cause has been ignored.
According to reports, 75 per cent of pollution in the province is from unfit transport vehicles. According to the transport and communications department (TCD), an average of 412 vehicles, including motorcycles, are added to the city’s roads each day and the growth rate of the vehicle population is projected to be over 15 per cent. A report issued by the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) on the World Environment Day 2005 revealed that over 1.6 million vehicles are plying on the roads of Karachi, out of which over 30 per cent (0.48 million) do not fulfil the required fitness criteria.
There is need to establish a few fixed ambient air monitoring stations in the city to identify air pollution, enhance regulatory compliance and environmental management and protection.
According to reports, the Sindh transport department is going to re-invite private automobile manufacturing companies to take over the vehicle fitness certification. A fitness certificate centre has to be immediately privatised. In that way the private sector will be involved in improving the situation.
RASHID ASHRAF
Karachi
RECENTLY the Environment Protection Agency, Sindh, conducted a series of public hearings on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports of various development projects.
I happened to attend three such public hearings in Karachi: one held on May 3 on EIA of the Fauji Foundation’s proposed power plant at Korangi creek, the second on May 4 on EIA regarding the construction plant of Indus Refinery Limited and the third on May 6 on EIA of installation of an acid plant by Rawind Chemical Industries.
It may be noted that under Section 12 of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 it is compulsory for the management of all proposed development projects to conduct environmental impact assessment and obtain an
NOC from the Sindh EPA before commencement of the a project.
Moreover, under Section 10 of the EIA Rules 2000, it is mandatory for provincial EPAs (Sindh EPA in this case) to conduct public hearings on each EIA of a development project submitted for an NOC.
Strangely enough, all the above public hearings were not organised by the Sindh EPA because all expences for the hearings were paid by the proponents, including changes by the hotels where the bearings were held and papying the bills for lunch and high tea for the participants.
To my surprise, at all the above hearings I found some of the same environmentalists and representatives of international environmental NGOs who asked the same monotonous questions.
The answers given were also more or less the same. This gives an impression that the Sindh EPA has a permanent list of friends and favourites and whenever a public hearing is arranged, all of them are invited regardless of the nature and technicalities of the development project under consideration.
I hope the Sindh government will take notice of the mock process of public hearings being conducted by the Sindh EPA and will nominate a committee with members from all walks of life to make the process transparent.
SYED HABIBUDDIN
Karachi
THIS refers to the letter by a concerned citizen regarding public security (April 30). I appreciate the correspondent’s concern about deficiencies in security arrangements at religious gatherings which resulted in loss of lives of so many people.
This is mainly due to lack of concern and foresight by the authorities responsible for ensuring security of citizens. The police are only responding to the crime after it has been committed, rather than deterring crime before it occurs. Similarly, there is lack of awareness about security among the people as they have no knowledge of the precautions and preventive measures they should take to avoid becoming victims of criminals and terrorists.
The Citizen- Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) should undertake responsibility for promoting awareness about security among citizens by distributing leaflets on security do’s and don’ts. They should also arrange lectures and workshops on security management, personal security and bomb threat management in schools, colleges and community centres.
The ministry of information should direct PTV and all the private TV channels to telecast programmes about security awareness with the help of security experts. Similarly, the print media should also publish articles on security awareness.
The post of crime prevention adviser (CPA) should be created in every police station. The CPA will be available to the citizens for rendering advice on preventive security measures, as it is done by the metropolitan police in the UK.
Last, the DCO, TPO, SDPO and SHO of the area should be made accountable for any incident that occurs in their area. It is their responsibility to pre-empt any security threat and take preventive measures in advance.
SQN. LDR (retd) S. AUSAF HUSAIN
Karachi
IN order to apply for admission I had to mail relevant personal documents and forms to my preferred university in Malaysia. I was informed that sending registered mail through the Pakistan post office would guarantee delivery in about 10 days to Selangor, Malaysia.
I mailed the letter on April 28 but as of May 12 the package had not been received by the university. This is a matter of great concern to me as the deadline for admission is approaching.
At the post office I was informed that until one month has passed from the date of registration, I cannot request them to trace the letter. I was told to come back after May 28 to submit my request.
My registration number is 636 at the Pakistan post office, Gulistan-i-Jauhar branch. Could some authorised personnel from the post office please help me in this regard as it is not easy to obtain the various references and re-write personal statements in order to mail the application again?
SYED F. NAJEEB
Karachi
WHEN I called PTCL on May 3 to activate the callers’ line identity service on my telephone, the agent assured me that the service will be activated within 48 hours.
Several days later the service was still not activated despite my several calls to the PTCL’s 106 number.
The PTCL needs to adopt a better approach regarding customer service. A prompt response from that department will be a dream come true.
KAMRAN TARIQ
Karachi
THIS refers to Mr Shafaat Rasool’s letter (May 9) in response to an earlier letter on inefficient power plants.
Power plants for textile mills have to be treated differently for the type of energy required, as rightly pointed out by Mr Rasool, but in no case can we advocate inefficient power plants. The country can simply no more afford wastage of gas or any other fuel, including imported furnace oil or coal. Since 1994, we have been doing all sorts of experimentation (at the country’s cost) and, hopefully, the importance of efficiency will have sunk in by now.
Since there are several textile mills, the most important players are in the category of ‘composite’ production which requires a large amount of thermal energy (steam and hot water), besides stable power generation. If one looks around this sector alone, one will see hundreds of large steam/hot water boilers operating full time and contributing to increased production costs due to rising gas tariff.
Anything between 300 and 500 MW is an estimated ‘loss’ of equivalent gas due to the textile owners not installing efficient cogeneration power plants since just the ‘extra’ gas for the inefficient boilers will be available for efficient power generation of 300-500 MW.
This estimate can be even higher and the gas company can provide correct information regarding consumption in industrial boilers across the country.
The requirement of efficient use of gas should be an essential confirmation before our gas is committed/sanctioned and no industry or large commercial building should be an exception.
Other than the textile industry, we have also to examine our high energy costs in cement production. We first generate power in a most inefficient mode, without using thermal energy recovery and then spend good fuel energy to fire the kilns. We have been changing fuels without attempting to increase our energy efficiency and now, with every fuel (gas, imported furnace oil and imported coal) becoming more and more expensive, we seem to be hell-bent on increasing building construction costs by raising cement prices.
The answer is in energy efficiency and all industries and large commercial buildings (another important sector totally unaware of energy problems being faced by the country) must go through a basic energy audit before being allowed to continue with their inefficient ways.
AINUL ABEDIN
Karachi
IN a recent interview given to the Guardian, President Pervez Musharraf defended the military action in Waziristan and said that some collateral damage was inevitable when militants’ hideouts were attacked (Dawn, April 29). He also stated: “Sometimes, indeed, women and children have been killed but they have been right next to the place. It’s not that the strike was inaccurate but they happen to be there, so therefore they are all supporters and abettors of terrorism — and therefore they have to suffer. It’s bad luck.”
This is very shocking. How can children or even women living in the vicinity be abettors of terrorism? Culturally, they live in a world separate from that of their men, apart from which they will not even know what the latter were doing, because possession or use of weapons is not anything unusual in the tribal areas.
When anybody gets killed or hurt by terrorists in the West (loss of innocent lives there or here is equally regrettable), President Musharraf is the first to condole. After the 7/7 London bombings, he was quick to act by ordering a raid on a girls’ seminary in Islamabad where scores of girl students were attacked and injured by the police.
Instead of launching aerial or other indiscriminate assaults that are likely to cause a loss of innocent Pakistani lives and foment a devastating insurgency by our historically patriotic tribal brethren, other means should be employed to round up the suspects or the attacks be deferred until these people can be isolated.
A SHOCKED PAKISTANI
Karachi
THE residents of Karachi’s Clifton Block 2 are plagued by persistent problems like water, severely battered streets and haphazard parking of long vehicles on the kerb and open spaces.
Lately a silver lining appeared when Sharae Ghalib was carpeted. This ecstasy was short-lived as once again tankers and trailers have taken over the kerb and amenity plots. It is regretted that this activity continues despite the warnings of impounding vehicles by the city government. Since these long vehicles are used to transport containers and liquid cargo from the port, the KPT should arrange for parking spaces elsewhere.
The city government, which promptly ejects cobblers, tea stalls and barbers, should enforce the parking ban to save the new road from permanent damage.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
AFTER reading the news about a parliamentary secretary beating up a joint secretary of the ministry of finance (May 5), I realised for the first time that I committed no mistake in seeking early retirement from the civil service.
M SHABAN UPPAL
Karachi
THIS is with reference to your editorial ‘Options in Fata’ (May 11). It says that “among other things the supremacy of the maliks in the area has inhibited economic development and worked against the growth of a middle class, which could fight for its rights and equality with other citizens. Fata has, thus, remained outside the national mainstream.”
This is a very unfortunate oversimplification of a complex problem. We cannot hold tribal chieftains responsible for the miseries of Fata because their lot in the existing order is not much different from the ordinary inhabitants of the areas. In recent years around 100 tribal chieftains have been killed in the South and North Waziristan agencies.
While a majority of them have been killed by the Taliban for supporting the ongoing military operations, a good number have lost their lives in tribal feuds with ordinary citizens. So much for the supremacy of the tribal maliks.
Furthermore, they cannot inhibit economic activity and thereby hamper the growth of a middle class for the simple reason that a large majority themselves belong to the lower class. This is no exaggeration. They do not have any palatial status in society. They use the same fossilised governmental structures for educational, medical, and transport purposes. What rights and equality then are we talking about?
It is time we subjected these myths to scrutiny. Fata is a very important part of Pakistan. The government should embark on an extensive research activity to identify the real problems in the area and follow it up by establishing a strong economic, political, and educational set-up. The tribal maliks are no impediments in this regard.
KHURSHID MAHSUD
Islamabad
THIS refers to Agha Shahabuddin’s letter ‘Ownership rights to villagers’ (April 23). This is indeed horrifying. The villagers’ right to own land has been denied by the authorities ever since independence.
As there appears to be no dispute between the government and the opposition on the issue of allowing villagers the right to own residential houses, both should introduce a resolution in the Sindh Assembly and pass the bill enforcing implementation of Sindh Goth Abad (Housing Scheme 1987 Sindh Act No: VII of 1987), without further loss of time.
SALIM CHANNA
Hyderabad
AN important road running between the PSO petrol pump and the ‘City Villas’ main gate in UC-13 in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town, Karachi, has been in a sate of disrepair for a year. Similarly, University Road presents a spectacle of devastation near the Habib Bank branch adjacent to the Safoora Goth Chowrangi. It remains very often submerged under sewage flowing from residential apartments.
Unless the sewerage line’s fault is rectified, no amount of earth filling will provide any relief. Will the city nazim look into this?
GHOLAM HASNAIN
Karachi
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