| July 05, 2007 | Thursday | Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1428 |
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KESC: running day-to-day affairs
Giving credit where it is due
Minimum wage
Travesty of justice
Ayub’s diaries
Bee in the garden
Canal Road
Sakhi Shahbaz
Sindh Textbook Board
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
YET another disaster struck Pakistan in the shape of a cyclone in the Arabian Sea and subsequent heavy monsoon rains, which created havoc across Sindh and Balochistan provinces. The civil administrations of both the provinces found themselves entirely unprepared to handle the tragedy and could not reach victims on time. After the October 2005 devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, the much-needed relief and rescue operations started quite late, which resulted in increase in casualty rate and miseries of distressed people.
After the quake, the government promised and resolved to adopt disaster management strategies to deal with such catastrophes in future. But alas! All that proved to be a mere rhetoric that could not be translated into action. It was the armed forces, which mobilised its men and machinery to help the victims out. There was no civilian apparatus anywhere in these areas and only the tall claims and paltry compensation announcements flowing from them.
It was pathetic to see our seasoned Sindh chief minister deny outrightly the unofficial and reliable figures about the dead and the injured. How apathetic and casual the CM has been? Moreover, to hide its inefficiency, the Sindh government blamed the met department for not informing about the impending disaster in advance. One asks in whose jurisdiction the met office falls.
Mere visit to the tragedy-hit areas aerially while sitting in comforts of helicopters by our civilian leaders will not do any good. This practice should altogether be abandoned. What is needed is that the taxpayer’s money, which is mercilessly spent on these trips, should be given to the needy people instead. Cost of security and fuel on a trip by the prime minister via helicopter goes about a million rupees if not beyond.
The need of the hour is that the government should start afresh planning strategies in a holistic and pragmatic manner so that in future the effect of such disasters could be mitigated.
The people of Karachi and Balochistan are our brethren and as they came rushing for aid and rescue of their brothers in earthquake hit areas, they also deserve to be helped by the countrymen.
YASSIR RASHEED
Rawalpindi
THIS is in response to a news item (July 1). The news is about 500 people falling sick in Peshawar due to the administration of TAB vaccine in rain-affected areas. The reporters have erroneously stated that TAB vaccine is meant to provide protection against TB and Cholera. In fact, TAB is an acronym for typhoid and paratyphoid A and B vaccine.
Vaccines against paratyphoid A and B are not licensed for use in the United States and other developed countries because the paratyphoid AB component of TAB vaccine is ineffective and gives little if any individual protection. Field trials have shown that combining paratyphoid A and B antigens with typhoid vaccine increases the risk of vaccine reaction. The TAB vaccines produce several systemic and local adverse reactions, including fever, headache and severe local pain and/or swelling among the recipients of vaccines.
Mass vaccination programmes using TAB vaccines usually lead to a false sense of security about the risk of disease and to the neglect of effective control measures. However, in Pakistan health authorities are often under considerable public and political pressure to begin mass vaccination programmes, particularly in the event of a natural disaster.
This pressure is increased by erroneous reporting by the local media of typhoid and cholera endemics typically after spells of rain and consequent flooding. The World Health Organisation does not recommend typhoid and cholera vaccines for routine use in endemic areas. Typhoid and cholera vaccines offer only low and short-term individual protection and little protection against the spread of disease.
Higher and longer-lived protection will occur naturally in endemic areas where the population has previously been exposed to disease, but it will still be insufficient to prevent the spread of disease. The effective control measures should then be case identification, isolation, and treatment.
Currently the biological production division of the National Institute of Health is the sole public sector producer of bacterial and viral vaccines where basic production of typhoid and cholera vaccines takes place. In the event of adverse reactions to vaccines it is important to notify the batch numbers of production and their expiration dates.
FOUZIA RAHMAN
Karachi
SO far the matters of the KESC have totally disappointed the quarters concerned. Its privatisation failure is raising a lot of questions regarding the other units related to public services being offered for bids.
Evaluation of KESC matters reveals that, in addition to all other constraints, the major problem seems to be the gross mismanagement of day to day matters by the O and M contractor, assumed to be a local electrical giant. Unfortunately, managing a private venture where you are sole authority answerable to none and public utility company are totally two different cases way apart.
The tragedy has been that Siemens from the day one has tried to manage the things exactly as they were habitual of doing in Siemens. There are very evident factors leading to this disaster.
Siemens is earning a huge sum of money on a monthly basis on manpower supply. This situation warrants that you have to provide a man for any particular position, only then you can charge for it.
You have to designate a person for this post irrespective of his capabilities, in order to invoice his services. It is because of this fact that people with irrelevant experience are occupying most vital position in the organisation. That is why we see a very young IT engineer solely responsible for operations.
Further complication because of the above fact is that the competent engineers who have been managing the things in most crucial situations are frustrated and not performing to their optimum. Troubleshooting is the one field where you have to put your personnel efforts into your normal job to get results which are not achievable by standard procedures and practices. This can only be done by a satisfied and motivated staff with strong backing from the seniors.
At present there are engineers with 25 years of experience answerable to young engineers, that too from another field knowing nothing about utility practices. This is evoking dissatisfaction and feeling humiliated.
I have myself served Siemens for almost 18 years and have the honour of being the trainee father of all the topmost management of Siemens at present in command. They are very hardworking and competent people. It is a bad luck that they lost their way in the process and are not analysing the situation correctly to re-route the things properly.
Having a shortfall of energy is one aspect and taking days to repair a fault is another thing. At least this should not happen. Whatever is within the means of the KESC should perform to its optimum.
The senior members of the KESC should be given due self-respect and brought in the lead role so that they are motivated enough to put their heart and soul in their efforts to keep the system going.
All of them may not be that efficient but we cannot treat them alike. Without underestimating the capabilities of young engineers on the technical side, one has to keep in mind that administrative experience is vital for managing huge setups like that of the KESC.
DILAWAR HUSAIN
Karachi
IT’S that time of the year once again when life comes to a halt because of heavy traffic jams, extended power cuts (up to 50 hours in some localities), water shortages, disturbances in communication systems, disruptions in rail and flight traffic — all rooted from the seasonal torrential downpours. This feat has become a yearly ritual and people dread the onset of the monsoon — whereas, given the heat factor, it should ideally be the other way around.
Accompanied by ghastly blowing winds, the destruction this time around was of a different and more serious nature. There was loss of life due to flying billboards, falling walls and trees, electrocutions, etc. All in all, this gift of nature turned out to be quite a tragedy for the city of Karachi, as over 200 families went in mourning.
Newspapers, TV and all other media have generally reported the devastation taken place and have, as usual, criticised the government for the unforeseen. What no one has covered is the giant leap improvements in the infrastructure and drainage systems of the city. The streets that used to be swimming pools are now merely small ponds, the once long and dreadful six to eight hours’ journey from work to home has drastically reduced to an hour. As a result, one did not see cars floating on the street with elephant-nose silencers.
Over the last one year, there has been a drastic and visible improvement in the road drainage systems of Karachi — something which was clearly lacking previously. People can now roam around in their cars much more freely, without any fear of midway breakdowns. The government should not be blamed for nature's doings or poor standards of construction, wiring, advertising, etc, all of which have been in place since donkey's years. At the same time we should not absolve ourselves from the responsibility of praising the government for whatever little has been achieved and credit should be given where and whenever it is due.
At the end, one can only hope that the government should continue working in the best interest of the people (in all aspects of governance), and that this horrible episode turns to become a learning experience for the lawmakers, resulting in introduction and implementation of better civil standards on an immediate basis.
S. Z. RAUF
Karachi
I HAD a disgusting experience on June 22 at Sindbad (play area for children) located in the vicinity of Nisar Shaheed Park in Phase 4 of the DHA, Karachi, when I took my grandchildren there for recreation and play rides.
One such worry is regarding the salary of the operators of the machines, who are being paid Rs2,500 a month in gross violation of the Minimum Wage Act. Under the Act, the minimum wage is Rs4,600 a month for eight hours of daily work with a weekly off for a day. Second, the security guards are performing 12 hours of duty without a weekly holiday. They are also being paid less than Rs4,600 a month.
As a result of these gross anomalies, the performance of the machine operators is not good and our children are exposed to dangers as unsatisfied worker cannot perform well.
How can a security guard perform well in the environment as explained above? I wonder why often we read or hear in the media regarding the commission of dacoities by security guards.
If we can take care of these small evils, we hope to avoid bigger catastrophe. The DHA must take initiative and smoothen out the paranoia.
LT COL (r) RIAZ MOHIUDDIN
Karachi
MR M. A. Khan’s letter (June 14) is an eye-opener for the authorities and the finance minister about the anomalies in the several years' delayed sanction of orderly allowance, badly curtailing the same from the already approved figure of Rs2,375 to only Rs800pm.
No doubt, pension at present offers a sort of token figure, hardly enough to meet even a quarter of the ‘hand to mouth’ needs of the old retired public servants, excluding their higher medical requirements, while Rs800 a month cannot even pay for a part-time orderly today.
In view of this position the finance minister is requested to look into this anomaly and to rectify the same at his convenience and oblige the old pensioners, besides allowing medical facilities to them free of cost from the nearest government hospitals or approved clinics.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
THIS is in response to M.K. Naqvi's letter (June 28). The writer attempted to portray the September 1965 war as a "unique war that was neither totally won nor lost by either Pakistan or India". Mr Naqvi puts it as Pakistan won militarily while India won politically.
I respectfully disagree. The fact is that Ayub started the war in Kashmir and India only came to defend. It was simply unwise of Ayub to launch a war in Kashmir without analysing how India would retaliate.
Leaving Lahore unprotected and assuming that India will not cross "international boundary" displays his and his GHQ's military immaturity and incompetence (He declared and awarded himself the rank of Field Marshall).
Also, as we know Pakistan armed forces did not defend East Pakistan by its men. It was left for the Indonesian navy. India chose to attack Lahore as a defence tactic against Kashmir invasion because they knew GHQ will give a damn to the invasion of East Pakistan but will surely retract its forces from Kashmir if Punjab is invaded.
As regards the misconception that Pakistan militarily won the war, this is incorrect and only exists in Radio Pakistan news then read by Shakil Ahmed.
Take another angle of the view. Pakistan lost the reason for which it started the war as it did not get Kashmir, and India won because it stopped Pakistan's advancement which took India by surprise. As regards political achievement, it cannot be won by military machine or so called.
The problem is that there is a misconception within GHQ and it tends to portray as such that they are the world's finest army.
Ayub has ruined the once professional machine by bringing his GHQ into civilian affairs and since then they have lost it. In Islamic literature we read a term called "gunah-i-jaria" meaning continuing sin. Every time a general brings coup against the elected civilian government, the sin will be on the neck of Ayub as well.
ABDUL MUQTADIR
New Jersey, USA
THIS has reference to Gohar Ayub’s letter (June 8) informing us that his book, Glimpses into the corridors of power, is to be launched on July 31.
Will the former captain of the Pakistan Army and also ex-speaker of the National Assembly disclose the story of his show of power during the demising days of Ayub’s regime when he forcibly passed his motor vehicles on M.A. Jinnah Road breaking down the one way traffic with gunfires?
He must be hopefully honest in his venture to write the book. That show of power of the son of a sitting president also added to the causes of the downfall of Field Marshal Ayub’s regime like a house of cardboard.
GHEEWALA
Karachi
A. Q. ANJUM says in ‘Bee in the garden’ (June 28) that during the CJ’s last visit to Karachi on May 12 about 42 innocent people were killed, therefore he must not come again because more persons may lose their lives.
A couplet is then quoted: “Magas ko bagh mein jane na dena, ke nahaq khoon parwanon ka hoga” (do not let the bee enter the garden, or the blood of many innocent admirers will be shed for no rhyme or reason). There is a saying, “The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others.”
Instead of holding the chief justice of Pakistan responsible, the writer must realise that he is a ‘bee’ who stings nobody but is only trying to ensure that life and liberty of every Pakistani are better protected through a proper rule of law. Rather than prevent this stingless bee from entering the garden, we should take care of those who had caused all the carnage last time and might do so again.
T. GHAZNAVI
Karachi
IF you plan to drive through Canal Bank Road in Lahore on a busy afternoon, all I can say now is good luck. It seems the once 'highway' canal road has fallen short of lanes. At least one extra lane is needed on both sides of the bank to cope with the mess which worsens during rush hours owing to addition of traffic from wide underpasses and the roads above the underpasses, which tries to cram onto the narrowing two-lane road.
And this happens at every underpass, thus collective damage. To avoid cutting the trees on either end, separate 'cycle' lanes must be built in the 'green' area so as to stop the hindrance in traffic by bikers and cyclists. Side lanes should be built for bus stops.
Any improvement in the Canal Road will benefit traffic directly in the whole city. The move to construct bridges over the bank is also a positive step.
ALI M KHAN
Lahore
HAVING drawn a blank from Karachi and Hyderabad for a copy of Sakhi Shahbaz Qalandar’s ‘divan’ or even scattered verses in Persian, I am now seeking through these columns information about the publisher, if any.
The Sakhi's ecstasy, abandon, and complete absorption in the Divine were all his own but I am not sure of an interest in Persian poetry in Pakistan anymore.
S. IRTIZA HUSAIN
Karachi
Much has been written about the inefficient performance of the Sindh Textbook Board but it seems things are not going to get improved and changed in the board. The next academic year is to begin on Aug 16 but the STB seems to have not taken the required measures to bring out the textbooks by the end of July so that they could reach the students by mid-August.
Looking into the work speed and previous record of the board, it appears the STB will hardly be able to market its textbooks by the end of September or by the beginning of October.
Thus, the students will be the worst sufferers with their teachers in trouble to complete the courses well in time, as it has been happening for the last several years.
On the contrary, the other textbook boards of the country have been working efficiently and supplying the textbooks in due course of time. The question is: what is wrong with the STB which has made it to lag behind in spite of a fat budget earmarked by the government every year for it.
I think it is the incompetence and corrupt practices of STBians which have made the mess in the board. It is the logical result of ignoring the merit while making the appointments in the STB.
I appeal to the authorities concerned to look into the poor state of affairs of the STB and take stringent disciplinary action against it so as to clean the long prevailing mess in the board.
We need an efficient, competent and committed STB which should lead the other boards of the country as well.
AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN
Ghotki
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