| June 28, 2006 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 1, 1427 |
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Managing national assets
A paradise in danger of being lost
Karachi’s postal problems
Appeal against PSIC
Revisiting nuclear tests
Revisiting nuclear tests
Well done police
PR on Chinese locomotives
NSS profits
Loadshedding
THIS is with reference to Zehra Wasim Khan’s letter ‘World Bank loan’ (June 26). For the last 26 years I have worked with the Orangi Pilot Project and other national NGOs and government initiatives on infrastructure for low-income settlements and on related city-level investments.
My findings are that the government delivers infrastructure to the people of Pakistan at approximately four to five times the cost of labour and material involved. The moment a loan comes in, the cost goes up by at least 30 to 50 per cent due to foreign consultants, the posh offices that are set up for them and related costs of logistics.
Owing to international tendering and purchase conditionalities, the cost can go up by another 200 to 300 per cent, if not more. So the people of Pakistan pay back more than Rs20 for something whose cost in labour and material terms is Re1 and which the government of Pakistan delivers at about Rs4. Since repayments have to be in US dollars, the cost has increased considerably in the past in rupee terms due to the devaluation of the rupee.
All this is in addition to interest or mark-up as it is now called. Also, the employment of foreign consultants and international tendering deprives our consultants (who are as qualified as the foreign ones) and our construction companies of the opportunity to grow and develop. This is a major loss imposed on us.
According to a report prepared by Environmental Defence ADB Watch, 70 per cent of all ADB’s projects in Pakistan have been failures or are unsustainable. The ADB’s own evaluation of Karachi and Peshawar projects identifies only one project as successful and that too partially. Most of the World Bank’s investments in infrastructure and physical development projects have resulted in large-scale environmental and ecological damage, especially in rural Sindh, in addition to adversely affecting and in many cases evicting the communities they were supposed to benefit. There are numerous reports to support this claim.
The total investment through loans in the water and sanitation sectors alone since 1977 amounts to $1,982.44 million or Rs118,946 billion. There is very little to show for this enormous investment and as such it does not say much for the international consultants and companies that were employed for this work.
If we are to save ourselves from bankruptcy our persons in power (we cannot call them politicians) and our planners will have to learn how to utilise locally available funds of which there is no shortage. Most of them are wasted because of our failure to build capacity, capability, transparency and accountability in our planning and implementing agencies. One of the main reasons why we cannot do this is because of a manipulated political system which functions on the basis of buying and selling loyalties and promoting corruption.
ARIF HASAN
Karachi
The Supreme Court’s decision to stop the privatisation of Pakistan Steel (PS) is an eye-opener. Vital national assets are mismanaged and then offloaded. The entire privatisation process should be re-visited in the light of long-term national interests. Business is not the domain of the government but it cannot abdicate its responsibility. So far the nation has seen no benefits from this exercise. Cement and ghee sectors have been disasters.
When the first and only steel mill of Pakistan was being established, we were asked to write a thesis on ‘the blast furnace’ which was being erected at Karachi. The blast furnace approach is ancient but it can only be justified as it can accommodate all kinds of lean iron ores. We were supposed to switch over to our own raw materials over a period of time but that did not happen.
We continue to operate the furnace on imported iron ore and coal. There have been no downstream projects, the quality of steel is also marginal and then the coke batteries need major repairs. Pakistan Steel has been mismanaged for over three decades; professional management has been the missing link. The post of the chairman has never been advertised. Instead of setting the house in order by corporatisation and professional management as was done in the case of the PSO, the SSGC, the government decided to unload this vital national asset.
PS should be professionally managed; its coke batteries repaired and a major conversion to local iron ore should be undertaken right away. In fact, Pakistan needs another upcountry steel mill based on the Chiniot iron ore reserves. Projects have already been initiated to cover this area; a comprehensive plan of action can be initiated to streamline steel production in the country.
Well done Supreme Court, the nation is proud of you. Now the professional challenge has started. Pakistan and its assets have to be managed for the long-term national gains and not abdicated for short-term glory.
DR FARID MALIK
Lahore
ANYONE who crosses the river Chenab near Chiniot in the central Punjab by road or train during day will not miss the great beauty and majesty of the natural spectacle. This magnificent environmental national asset is under mortal attack by the stone quarry mafia.
This picturesque and recreational site extends a few kilometres east and west of the river towards Chiniot and Rabwah. The river divides itself here in two parts and forms a scenic island, rich in vegetation and landscape variation. Under the bridges there are lakes ideal for boating and angling. On the island there are elegantly built shrines of two divines who worshipped here in heavenly peace.
Tourists and visitors throng the place in the thousands at weekends in fair weather. Some of them indulge in picnicking, hiking and climbing. Before the British came, the location was called Shahi Pattan (royal river crossing). A few hold it to be the victory site of a battle fought by Mahmud Ghaznavi against a maharaja. There is also some historical evidence to support the opinion that Mohammad bin Qasim’s army crossed from here in its drive towards Kashmir in the 8th century.
The crowning beauty of this recreational and historic location are the great hills (eons old on geological scale) that are under persistent attack by a gang which is dynamiting this heritage into oblivion with the connivance and support of some officials. The hills have been damaged visibly, and for ever. The mutilation goes on, and the authorities look the other way. There is an urgent need to effectively halt this massacre. We owe it to our future generations. They say it takes 40 dumb animals to make a fur coat, but only one to wear it.
The ministry of environment, the Environ Protection Council, the provincial department of mining and the PTDC, etc., should wake up and stop this exploitation and robbery — for all times. Their earlier attempts have proved transient and futile.
An urgent and effective stop to this environmental injury, even at this stage, will preserve essential features and beauty of this God-given bit of earthly paradise that is manifestly ‘endangered and threatened’.
SHAMEEM A KHALID
Chenab Nagar
APROPOS of the letter ‘Karachi’s postal problems’ (June 25), it is hereby clarified that in Karachi more than 60 new post offices have been opened in the last two years. This has been accomplished by proper utilisation of staff from the existing establishment. Hence there is no manpower shortage or mismanagement.
It is not correct that the postmaster-general has issued instructions for night post office timings from 2pm to 7pm or imposed the limit for accepting cash by night post offices up to Rs1,000 only as reported by Dr Chowdhry Rehan and Arif Raza.
The fact is that to facilitate the general public, the post offices have been asked to collect utility bills from 9am to 3pm in day post offices and from 3pm to 10pm in night post offices. The main GPOs and head post offices in Karachi are also open to collect utility bills from 10am to 1pm on Sundays. Currently, 151 day post offices and 82 night post offices are engaged in the collection of utility bills.
Security arrangements at all GPOs and important posts offices are available and these concerns have been addressed by the management keeping in view the law and order situation of Karachi. The circumstances under which the prescribed timings were not observed by the post offices indicated by Dr Chowdhry in his letter are being investigated and negligent officials would be taken to task.
MUHAMMAD AHMAD MIAN Postmaster-General
Karachi
THE Punjab Small Industries Corporation launched a housing society in 1986. The PSIC being a department of the Punjab government, I thought it to be a legitimate and authentic scheme and bought a few plots for my daughters.
All the dealings, including the payments, were made to the Punjab Small Industries Corporation at its head office through the designated officials.
Now recently when two of my daughters got married and I wanted to give them their plots, the PSIC officials are not giving possession of our plots whereas I have already made all payments and even have allotment letters with me for: (1) Plot No. 105-C, membership No.1116, (2) plot No. 15-F, membership No. 1117 and (3) plot No. 39-A, membership No. 1118.
I urge the Punjab chief minister to help me in getting possession of my plots and take serious action against misappropriation by the officials concerned of the Punjab Small Industries Corporation.
SYEDA SADIQA GHAZNAVI
Lahore Cantt
THIS is with reference to the letter ‘Revisiting nuclear tests 1998’ (June 21).
The writer of the letter has brought up a pertinent point about the slow pace of economic development at the cost of defence expenditure. He has quoted the economic rise of Japan, Germany and South Korea. It has been ignored that the US became responsible for the defence of Japan and German after the World War II. South Korea was defended at the time of Korean wars. The US still enjoys many facilities and have bases in these countries. Thus they have strong reasons to divert their resources for development.
The case of Pakistan is much different. Right from May 29, 1947 when the first train coming from Delhi to Lahore was attacked and Muslim passengers murdered, India leaves no opportunity to act against our interests. Withholding of our share of money, disproportionate distribution of ordnance assets, annexation of Hyderabad, unfair boundary award of Punjab can be quoted as some examples. In fact, I can vividly recall a statement of Justice (r) Mahajan Das, member of the boundary commission: “We agreed to the creation of Pakistan because we thought it would not last six months”.
Pakistan was not a nuclear state when India crossed international boundary in 1965. We were not nuclear when they sent their troops in November 1971 in East Pakistan. India spent six billion dollars buying the lobbyist in convincing the senators in a particular country justifying its intervention because of influx of refugees. We had far greater number of refugees and looked after them for more than two decades.
The world is governed by “wolf’s law” as Stalin said. The smaller and poorer nations have no choice except to either accept the supremacy of local/regional power or acquire enough economic and military strength to defend them. In the long run the nuclear choice is certainly cheaper and more deterrent. We have another option: “Abu Ghraib, Baquba, Hamdania and Mylai”.
Mylai was a village in South Vietnam where soldiers from the American Army, under command of Lt. William Calley, killed 109 civilians — men, women and children — in March 1968.
As far the safety of Karachi and Mumbai are concerned, may I ask which city in the world is really safe: New York, London, Munich, Muzzafarabad?
BRIG (r) KHALID HASSAN MAHMOOD
Karachi
THIS is with reference to the letter ‘Revisiting nuclear tests 1998’ (June 21).
The writer of the letter has brought up a pertinent point about the slow pace of economic development at the cost of defence expenditure. He has quoted the economic rise of Japan, Germany and South Korea. It has been ignored that the US became responsible for the defence of Japan and German after the World War II. South Korea was defended at the time of Korean wars. The US still enjoys many facilities and have bases in these countries. Thus they have strong reasons to divert their resources for development.
The case of Pakistan is much different. Right from May 29, 1947 when the first train coming from Delhi to Lahore was attacked and Muslim passengers murdered, India leaves no opportunity to act against our interests. Withholding of our share of money, disproportionate distribution of ordnance assets, annexation of Hyderabad, unfair boundary award of Punjab can be quoted as some examples. In fact, I can vividly recall a statement of Justice (r) Mahajan Das, member of the boundary commission: “We agreed to the creation of Pakistan because we thought it would not last six months”.
Pakistan was not a nuclear state when India crossed international boundary in 1965. We were not nuclear when they sent their troops in November 1971 in East Pakistan. India spent six billion dollars buying the lobbyist in convincing the senators in a particular country justifying its intervention because of influx of refugees. We had far greater number of refugees and looked after them for more than two decades.
The world is governed by “wolf’s law” as Stalin said. The smaller and poorer nations have no choice except to either accept the supremacy of local/regional power or acquire enough economic and military strength to defend them. In the long run the nuclear choice is certainly cheaper and more deterrent. We have another option: “Abu Ghraib, Baquba, Hamdania and Mylai”.
Mylai was a village in South Vietnam where soldiers from the American Army, under command of Lt. William Calley, killed 109 civilians — men, women and children — in March 1968.
As far the safety of Karachi and Mumbai are concerned, may I ask which city in the world is really safe: New York, London, Munich, Muzzafarabad?
BRIG (r) KHALID HASSAN MAHMOOD
Karachi
LAST one week’s crime breakdown is as follows: 150 car thefts and snatching, 238 motorcycle thefts and snatching, 260 cellphones snatching and 265 thefts, robberies and dacoities.
This makes for a very commendable and efficient record of our highly-efficient police force. These are just the reported cases; the unrecorded would probably make even more pleasant reading.
Well done police, and keep up the good work. We are told that the law and order situation is under control and all is well. What if the law and order was not under control. It would be the story of the Wild West.
MAHER ALAVI
Karachi
APROPOS of Mr Anwer Mooraj’s, article ‘Scams for all seasons’(June 26), the Pakistan Railways would like to clarify that in 2000 the cabinet approved the plan to procure 69 locomotives from China since the railway had almost grounded to a halt due to old and out-of- order fleet of locomotives. Unfortunately, at that time, the government had no funds and asked the railways to procure locomotives on credit and arrange funds on its own. All world renowned suppliers were approached but except China no one was willing to supply railway equipment on credit.
At that critical juncture China offered $400 million tied credit for purchase of railway equipment from it. Out of this, $100 million was eventually utilised for purchase of 69 locomotives. Two Chinese companies competed for the order and, subsequently, the lowest was awarded the contract.
The standard PC-I for the deal was duly vetted and approved by all relevant agencies of the government, including CDWP and Ecnec. The contract was signed after vetting by ministries of finance and law. The technical experts of the Pakistan Railways visited China many times and gave their approval along with modifications required, which was done by the Chinese engineers.
It is not true that the locomotives were heavier for the existing rail since all of them are running satisfactorily on our system. However, those of 3,000 HP whose weight was agreed to by the railway technical experts to be 140 tons have since been reduced to 137 tons to provide extra safety margin and not a single railway accident has been attributed to a fault in Chinese locomotives. All accidents took place due to overspeeding, signal failures or sabotage.
It is for information of the general public that the subcontinental rail gauge is different from the rest of the world and requires modification to the frame of all locomotives manufactured abroad. The hairline cracks which appeared in nine locomotives’ undercarriage frame were detected by Chinese engineers themselves who have rectified them under the warranty clause and all of them are operational today. The Chinese extended the warranty clause to five years and paid compensation to the railways. This issue of cracks was exploited by some people at a time when the railway wants to buy more locomotives from abroad.
As far as the coaches of the PR are concerned, the carriage factory can produce a limited number of coaches, based on outdated 30-year-old technology, which cannot run faster than 120km/hr. On the other hand, the Chinese coaches are airconditioned luxury coaches, based on the latest technology and designed with speed of more than 140km/hr. The deal includes a complete transfer of technology package. The best option available at that time was adopted. It went through all laid-down steps, approved at all levels and these locomotives today are giving satisfactory service to the Pakistan Railways.
Spokesperson
Ministry of Railways Government of Pakistan
THE NSS profit and pension, in most cases, is the only source of survival for senior citizens. Although the rate of increase announced in the budget 2006-07 is peanuts compared to the rate of inflation in the last few months, we feel thankful to federal finance managers for keeping on wiping our tears.
The situation is further aggravated when payment of profit at increased rate is denied by the savings centre management on the plea that it is applicable to depositors after July 1 only. What about the depositors for the last many years?
The second objection raised is that government notification has not yet been received by them. Would someone please remove the ambiguity? At the same time the authorities are requested to notify the savings centres simultaneously.
HAJI ASHFAQ
Oman
SINCE June 26 we have not received continuous supply of electricity due to loadshedding. Power comes back every two to three hours but only for 30 to 45 minutes. The KESC complaint #4551082 and 118 are always busy. The manager’s and operator’s numbers (4538263 and 4556716) are either busy or there is no answer. When I visited the KESC office (near Noorani Kabab House), the complaint phone had been disconnected, and in the manager’s room the phone was ringing but no one was there to answer it.
FAISAL AMIN
Karachi
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