| September 13, 2006 | Wednesday | Sha'aban 19, 1427 |
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Wrong fishing policy
Abandon waterfront project
Tobacco use on the rise
Workload on sales tax assesses
Islam and nation-building
Man about town
Water bills
Postal facilities
Cardinal sin
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
“AZIZ seeks investment from expatriates” (Dawn, Sept 3), the prime minister of Pakistan makes this appeal whenever he visits a foreign country. Overseas Pakistanis never let him down and remit huge sums back home but does the prime minister or any government department ever listen to the grievances of overseas Pakistanis?
Not a single scheme in Pakistan has ever been started with a true spirit to encourage overseas Pakistanis, but to deceive them there are a lot. Take for example the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), the only department created by the government to facilitate overseas Pakistanis but the affairs of this department expose it as a mere sham. Since 1980 every Pakistani leaving to work abroad has been charged Rs2,000 for the welfare of OPF. But what welfare facilities has it provided to expatriates?
The only task OPF has successfully accomplished is to provide jobs for the relatives of the big guns, but as for its real objectives this department has done nothing. These objectives include schools and medical colleges for children of Pakistanis living abroad, housing schemes, provision of legal help to those involved in minor offences abroad, bringing home the bodies of labourers from abroad, etc. All the funds have been consumed but no deserving expatriate has benefited from them. I have myself seen people collecting money to send the bodies of poor labourers in Saudi Arabia back to Pakistan. The Pakistan embassy and OPF have not provided any help.
Just consider the treatment of overseas Pakistanis at the nation’s airports. In the past it was only customs that was an issue but now immigration has also become a headache. When visitors like us arrive at the airports they face the first humiliation by waiting in queues for hours to be cleared by immigration officials while influential people and those who hire agents are cleared within minutes.
During the recent boom in real estate many housing schemes were announced and publicised through television and the print media. It was claimed that the NOC of the relevant authorities had been obtained. Many overseas Pakistanis invested in these schemes only to find that many projects were in fact not provided with NOC or the scheme was an outright scam. No government department or official has punished those who are responsible for innocent investors being looted. I hope that the next time the prime minister, president or anyone else comes to appeal for investment, they will first listen to the genuine complaints of expatriates and offer immediate redress.
EHTESHAM UL HAQ
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
I WOULD like to appeal to President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to allow deep sea medium-sized trawlers to operate within 12 miles instead of 20 miles, a limit enforced recently through a notification. Also, the Korangi Fish Harbour Cess Fund, which has almost destroyed bottom trawling, should be abolished.
During the last 25 years, no deep sea fishing policy has been formulated. All previous policies had loopholes which encouraged corruption, and that will happen again if the trawlers in Zone II are pushed to 20 miles. Being a pioneer of this industry, I have always protested against this policy.
The 2001 policy created Zone-I for local fishermen, Zone II for medium-sized vessels, and Zone III for large vessels. The government hoped that a target of 27,000 tons of catch per year would be achieved through 20 medium-sized trawlers. Then letters of intent were given to 20 companies for three years to operate their trawlers beyond 12 miles.
Unfortunately, only 11 trawlers could operate, and the fish catch was limited to only 5,000 tons, in comparison to the local fishermen’s estimated catch of a half million tons. As such deep sea fishing trawlers’ catch was only one per cent of the local fishermen’s catch. While 100 per cent of the deep sea trawlers’ catch is exported, only 17 per cent of local fishermen’s catch is exported, consisting of six per cent of frozen and 11 per cent of dry fish.
Among the trawler owners, the major role was played by a company partly owned by the Chinese government. Unfortunately, last year’s catch was not satisfactory and the company had to spend two million dollars as operational costs. In the past, whenever applications were called, people having no experience came forward in large numbers. As a result this crowd overshadowed genuine companies, although the 1995 policy made it clear that only experienced companies would be given licences.
Medium-sized vessels for Zone II beyond 12 miles cannot trawl beyond the depth of 100 metres. Yet these trawlers were called to operate beyond 12 miles, and they are to be pressured to operate beyond 20 miles. This is unjust and wrong. This will send wrong signals to foreign investors. At present our Chinese friends are the biggest investors in Pakistan.
Those having no experience should be given no licence. Those who previously failed to bring trawlers should be blacklisted. Seventy per cent of the ribbon fish, which has no value and is considered trash, is caught during bottom trawling.
The Korangi cess fund, which almost destroyed bottom trawling, should be abolished. The KFH authorities should realise that oil prices have 1995 onwards skyrocketed, making fishing very expensive and uneconomical. Foreign trawlers were already paying 3,500 dollars per voyage plus 40 dollars per metric ton to the KFH. In spite of this all this income in foreign exchange, the KFH’s decision to impose another tax was unjustified. I appeal to the government to withdraw this tax.
MURAD BEY
Karachi.
IN the wake of devastation caused by rain in the city, I request the DHA authorities to abandon their waterfront project. Now that there is water everywhere in the allegedly posh Clifton and Defence Society, denizens of both neighbourhoods can relish waves from the Arabian Sea in their homes and ground floor apartments.
No doubt, the DHA and Clifton Cantonment Board authorities failed miserably to tackle the expected rain and the devastation wrought by it. Some funny fellows in the CBC ordered tractors to be stationed in inundated areas; they had no idea they needed pumps not tractors.
Since somebody was definitely making money out of the people’s miseries, the authorities tended to take no notice.
It is time President and Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf and the corps commander of Five Corps at least transferred those in the DHA and the CBC who were responsible for this mayhem.
This is a soft punishment for their ruthless apathy because in fact they deserve to face a more severe punishment since many precious lives were lost due to their carelessness. Such fellows bring a bad name to the men in uniform and help Gen Musharraf’s opponents.
A thorough inquiry should be conducted into the human and material losses suffered, and proper compensation should be paid.
There is no way people’s agony and misery can be mitigated, but such callousness should not be allowed to be repeated.
The only good aspect of the rain disaster is that it has made the rich and influential realise they are as helpless as people in Lyari and Malir in trying conditions.
In fact for the first time in the history of this country, they were better off than the fellows in Defence and Clifton. Somebody out there is definitely unhappy with the system.
A RESIDENT
Karachi
I WOULD like to bring to your attention the fact that the use of tobacco among children under 18 is on steep rise in Pakistan, though the government has taken strong measures to try to curb the use of cigarettes amongst minors by restricting sale to only those aged above 18 along with subduing the promotion of the same by placing bans on cigarettes advertising in the media and placing huge and clearly visible warnings on cigarette packaging.
It is sad to see that despite these preventive measures, an area of the tobacco industry goes completely unchecked. I would like to bring to the government’s attention the boom of sheesha (flavoured tobacco waterpipes) establishments which have mushroomed all over the city allowing minors to freely smoke the flavoured water tobacco.
There are no warnings, no cautions that can be seen at any sheesha establishments that discourage underage sale. There are no checks nor restriction imposed on minors at these sheesha bars as underage youths can be commonly seen in groups smoking sheesha at these places.
Given that sheesha tobacco is milder and the nicotine level may be comparatively low, nonetheless it constitutes as tobacco and instils and encourages smoking.
I would like to draw the government’s attention that this rapidly growing phenomenon of unchecked sheesha should be restricted and allowed only to age 18+ and strong measures must be introduced towards establishments that entertain minors with penalties and consequences so that this be stopped before we have another full blown tobacco abuse situation such as ‘gutka’ (prevalent in the country) on our hands again.
MASOOD HAMID
Karachi
TO grant facilities to taxpayers, the new budget allowed taxpayers to submit sales tax return-cum-payment challans on a quarterly basis instead of on a monthly basis. But as per SRO No. 559(1)2006 dated 05.06.2006 and sales tax circular No. 05/2006 dated 21.08.2006, all importers are required to submit the following statements and sales tax return-cum-payment challans:
1. Detailed monthly summary of their purchases/imports and invoices of their sales to registered buyers.
2. Detailed quarterly statement, namely, Annex B and annual statement Annex C, in prescribed form.
3. Quarterly sales tax return-cum-payment challan.
4. Traders exclusively importing zero-rated items are also required to submit a quarterly summary under simplified Annex B and a yearly summary under simplified Annex C, in addition to quarterly sales tax return-cum-payment challans.
As a result, workload on taxpayers and sales tax department has been increased without any purpose.
The CBR is requested to relieve taxpayers of heavy workload, by deleting requirement of unnecessary summaries, statements, annexures, etc.
A TAXPAYER
Karachi
IN HIS column ‘Why are the gods angry with us?” (Sept 1), Mr Ayaz Amir, while referring to the separation of East Pakistan, has said that in a nation like ours with diversity of race, language, culture and levels of economic development, the overriding emphasis must be on consensus-building.
Further on he also says: “(We) ended up abusing Islam, insisting that since Islam was the basis of our nationhood, no other material was required for nation-building.”
One does agree that consensus-building is certainly important, yet it must not be denied that Islam had played the pivotal role in the creation of Pakistan. Moreover, nobody says that nothing else other than our religion is required to keep us together.
The necessity and value of keeping the spirit of Islam very strong has been evident from recent events. During the Bosnian crisis, the Muslims worldwide were greatly disturbed by the suffering and helplessness of their Bosnian brothers and sisters. Some Islamic countries, including Iran, Pakistan and Turkey had even offered to send their troops to help protect them, which was obstructed by the western sanctions on that country.
Why would a soldier (or a civilian volunteer) thousands of kilometres away be willing to face the possibility of getting killed in this endeavour for the sake of someone who was racially, linguistically and culturally so different and whom he had never even met? Only because of the spirit of Islam. The same is generally true for Lebanon.
Whenever matters came to the crunch, it was our Islamic spirit that welded the nation, as was seen during the 1965 war, the 1998 nuclear adventurism and blackmail by India as well as the devastating earthquake of October 2005. Things were different in 1971 because of Yahya Khan’s escapades, Bhutto’s ambitions and the alienation of 56 per cent of the nation’s population in East Pakistan along with the accompanying violence and our enemy’s intervention in connivance with the other superpower of the time. Islamic tenets were being flouted all around; why blame these for our own sins?
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, the Indian columnist and former parliamentarian, Mr Kuldip Nayar, who keeps visiting that country frequently, had made some very telling observations (Dawn, Feb 17). He lamented that most Bangladeshis and their leaders feel closer to Pakistan than to India. More interestingly, that Begum Khaleda Zia “would like Bangladesh to be an independent East Pakistan.” Of course, there also are Pakistanis who haven’t stopped dreaming of some kind of union with them. This shows that Islam is still the binding force between the two former wings of Pakistan.
The real problem is the drift away from Islam and towards secularism of a section of our ruling elite that started mainly with Bhutto, continued with Benazir and got intensified in recent years.
A western intellectual and convert to Islam has observed that the process of secularisation drives the spiritual forces out of the political arena. In early Islamic history, under pressure from secular-minded rulers, the pious people withdrew from public life; yet, in compensation their influence penetrated the mass of the people in the deserts, on the farms and in the cities, he notes. This influence, working as it were in the shadows, fostered “the growth of faith and spirituality which is the true glory of Islam.”
In our case, it is the Sufis and other Islamists who are keeping the faith alive in the deserts, plains, mountains and cities of Pakistan. If we had been true to the Islamic ideal of justice alone, things would have been very different visa-a-vis East Pakistan. If some of us choose to disregard our religion and drown the rose that is Islam in watering holes and bootleg stuff or crush it in one-night stands, its fragrance will be stifled and the consequences will be obnoxious, as in 1971. Why wouldn’t the “gods” be angry with us, then?
AHSANUL HAQ
Karachi
MAY I ask why we are subjected to reading Mr M. P. Bhandara’s articles about his various associations and his opinion of them? What we learn is that he is obviously a man about town with all the typical characteristics that go with it.
He holds the late General Ziaul Haq in great esteem despite his notorious record of oppression.
At the same time he had a close association (according to him) with late Nawab Akbar Bugti, who he describes in less favourable light than the late general.
The general leaves behind a powerful lobby while the Nawab can no longer deliver Sikh votes to Mr Bhandara.
Perhaps Nawab Akbat Bugti saw through such duplicity and no wonder he declared the entire parliament “as a bunch of eunuchs” – except that he did a disfavour to them.
I am certain that eunuchs are not known to kick their “elder friend” when he is buried and gone. Only the writer knew that Bugti’s favourite author was Salman Rushdie – I am glad he spared us the disclosure of naming his most notorious book as one of Nawab’s reading material.
Surely Mr Bhandara could not have supplied that too. In his article “General Ziaul Haq as I knew him” (August 17), Mr Bhandara magnanimously declares that even Zia’s enemies could not help being impressed by Zia’s courtesy and patience in hearing views diametric to his own.
Perhaps he should ask members of the press who were imprisoned for doing just that or the families of those who were hung for opposing his regime.
NADEEM ANTHONY
Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan, Lahore
THIS is to state that payment of water and sewerage bills has been an annual drill for the consumers. The system as a whole was on right track and in line with the ongoing practice of discharge of obligation of property tax, etc.
There seems to be a paradigm shift in the perception of the KWSB to do away with the existing arrangement of payment of charges on an annual basis.
The restructured mode of payment on monthly interval is not free from torture and hazards to which the large number of users will be subjected to.
Without dilating on the merits and demerits of the changed policy, I would request the hierarchy in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to reconsider the point at issue in broad perspective and order issuance of bills on an annual basis at the option of the consumers in order to facilitate tax collection objective.
KAUSAR JEHAN
Karachi
MR Qutabuddin Aziz’s suggestion (Sept 2) for improving postal operations is welcome. It is clarified that in the Clifton area letter-boxes are installed at all important points, including Clifton PO, Teen Talwar, Mazar Abdullah Shah Ghazi, Mohatta Palace, 70 Clifton, Do Talwar, MCB Bilawal House and Schon Chowrangi.
As desired in this letter we have surveyed the area and will install two more letter-boxes at Pak Towers and the NAB Court area for the convenience of the public. The letter-boxes which are damaged by the rain are also being replaced.
The staff strength of the post offices is determined according to the workload of the particular office. At present shortage of staff is not reported.
However, we would review the establishment and post additional staff if required. At the Clifton post office, the equipment such as franking machine and computers have been provided. Adequate stationery and forms are also available.
Life insurance facilities at the Clifton post office would be improved and if required an exclusive counter for the purpose will be provided.
SHAMSUDDIN ZOUNR
Deputy Postmaster-General,
Karachi Postal Region-I
Karachi
A BUSLOAD of passengers travelling along the Hyderabad-Karachi route were made hostage at Nooriabad police station on the morning of September 11.
The ticket collector had committed the cardinal sin of asking a cop for fare. I ask all those responsible if it is a crime to ask a policeman for the bus fare? Did it justify making more than 50 passengers — including women and children — hostage at a police station?
ASLAM P. MEMON
Karachi
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