| July 07, 2008 | Monday | Rajab 3, 1429 |
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In defence of Musharraf
Critical appraisal of devolution
Tax collection
Waiting for mutation
Mullen’s statement
PCB’s ‘big achievement’
Do we care?
Nadra contract employees
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
‘SOLVING energy crisis’ (letter, July 2) covers some of the most urgent steps which must be taken to at least slow down our economic crisis situation but then, are we really up to it? Do we really want to become conservation-conscious and ensure that we will follow the minimum requirements of energy efficiency and avoid waste? The ad hoc decision being taken at present (to ‘punish’ us for not allowing the Kalabagh Dam) are really unfortunate.
The inefficient power generation scenario mentioned in the referred letter needs to be addressed most urgently. If the new owners of the KESC had opted to re-power inefficient Bin Qasim steam power plants to efficient combined cycle design, we would not only have all the required power in Karachi (without any additional fuel costs), but the enormous subsidies being doled out to the KESC would have been diverted to more important health and education sectors.
And whenever we talk of efficient combined cycle design, we must take note of the technologies the world is using to ensure that the power plant retains its efficiency and capacity even in peak summer so that maximum benefits are available when maximum power is needed.
The other sector requiring energy efficiency and conservation is the industrial sector where technologies like cogeneration must be encouraged for affordable economics. Even the 1994 energy policy had encouraged cogeneration, so we find the present policies not covering this essential technology very surprising.
We must urgently address this anomaly since the recent gas tariff increase for ‘captive’ power generation does not take cogeneration efficiency into account. How is it possible that we have a lower industrial gas tariff for very poor system efficiency with steam and hot water boilers and a higher gas tariff for cogeneration power plant which would meet all the steam/hot water requirements and produce power as a bonus?
Nowhere in the world would one find such absurd policies to encourage waste. The policy must be urgently changed to reflect the benefit of conservation so that gas is used efficiently in cogeneration power plant and the industries (ultimately the national economy) survive in spite of ‘normal’ tariff increase of 31 per cent (and not burden the cogeneration power plant to unaffordable 68 per cent tariff increase).
In the commercial sector, it is very important that we ensure efficient (and healthy) airconditioning systems since airconditioning in all forms is very energy-intensive. Also, we should limit this ‘energy guzzler’ to only where it is required and not just make it convenient to solve personal comfort issue without understanding the harmful effects.
Rampant use of unauthorised aircondition units (without taking proper load sanction from the utility which would require major costs of upgradation) has resulted in serious power shortages. It is so very common to see the most thermally inefficient system in large buildings [typically, gas-fired absorption chillers with coefficient of performance (COP) of only 1.0] used without any concern of costs or environmental pollution!
Lack of concern at the highest level is all the more worrying since it is possible to use the same gas supply, with very efficient aircondition system giving COP of 4 and yet there is no code or professional ethics to ensure that only such efficient central conditioning systems are used. Inefficient airconditioning is one big reason for this unsustainable power and gas shortage.
Our energy policies need to be based on efficiency and conservation. Efficient power plants, industrial cogeneration systems and efficient central airconditioning installations would go a long way in solving our immediate problems of high costs and energy shortages. We need to take urgent corrective action to ensure that we can sustain the minimum required level of growth.
AAZA
Karachi
WHEN I read criticism of President Musharraf by his ‘commrades in arms’, I am reminded of a quotation from a book, ‘The Wisdom of Khalil Jibran’ (P 825), where he says:
“The spirit who has seen the spectre of death cannot be scared by the faces of thieves; the soldier who has seen the swords glittering over his head and streams of blood under his feet, does not care about the rocks thrown at him by the children on streets.”
I want to remind those retired generals who have joined anti-Musharraf campaign out of misplaced patriotism or pseudo-intellectualism that the soldiers are the noblest estate of mankind and the generals command them.
If you are genuine general, then let not your dignity and grace fall short which is an integral part of the personality of a general. I equate Mr Musharraf’s vision with that of Nikita Khurshchev who saved the world from destruction during the Cuban crisis when a nuclear war could break between the two superpowers, i.e. the US and the USSR.
After 9/11, Mr Musharraf showed his vision and pacified the Americans whose prestige and national pride had directly been challenged and could turn Afghanistan and Iraq into Hiroshima and Nagasaki like they did when their power was challenged at Pearl Harbour.
Prolonged military occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq in any case is not in the interest of America and the world peace. Collin Powell always advocated this because he was a genuine general and like Mr Musharraf upholds the dignity and grace of a general.
I have written this as my moral obligation to my country which is in a state of uncertainty created by the “deaf and dump”.
BRIG ( r ) QURBAN ALI BARLAS
Rawalpindi
THIS refers to the valuable comments by Rustam Shah Mohmand in his article, ‘Critical appraisal of devolution’ (June 26). I am in full agreement with the appraisal as the present local government really needs drastic changes.
An inherent flaw in this system so far has escaped the notice of the authors of the system, the commoners and intelligentsia of our ever-experimenting nation.
Undoubtedly the much-talked-about concept of independence of courts of law is a time-honoured phenomenon. Hazrat Imam Ghazali in his famous book Ahya-ul-Islam, says: “State can exist on kufr but not on injustice”.
This reflects the importance of justice in a society. The irony is that under this so-called progressive local government system the revenue courts are made subordinate to partisan political figure, i.e. the district nazim.
How can a court function without fear or favour under the umbrella of a politician. There are instances when district nazims refused to accept the postings of executive district officer(revenue), district officer (revenue) or DDO (revenue) in their districts as the officers were having the reputation of being independent and upright ones.
Unfortunately, some nazims want those revenue courts which fulfil their demands. Only history will tell us as to how much havoc had been played with the state land due to such subordination of revenue courts and functionaries as the latter have been left at the mercy of political bosses.
Is there any patriotic Pakistani at the helm of affairs who could release the revenue courts from the clutches of district nazims and allow them to dispense justice independently.
RAJA MUHAMMAD ASHRAF
Special Judicial Magistrate
Faisalabad
Your issue of July 4 carries half a page of self-praise advertisement by the FBR, showing that revenue collection during the year has been at historic highs. What purpose does it serve, except wastage of public resources? There is no reason for celebration. They have only performed their duty and that also partly.
Tax to the GDP ratio is the smallest in the region, there is widespread evasion, corruption. The tax base continues to be narrow, with reliance on a few taxes.
Why does the FBR insist that it has done a good job, when it has borrowed money?
The government had to borrow heavily from the central bank last year to meet its budget deficit: highly inflationary. We have seen the consequences faced by the poor man.
AYESHA MAHMUD
Karachi
THE last time a ‘government’ was toppled by the raw power of the Pakistani populace was in 1969 when Ayub Khan’s reign was brought to an end.
The ‘power’ gene is present in all communities and nations. When a nation is prospering, this gene stays contended, or in its ‘inactive’ state but if pressed to the wall, it mutates into its ruthless ‘active’ form: the form which enabled the Indian Muslims to unite and gain independence; which made the Iranians rally behind Imam Khomeini and overthrow the Shah; which powered the Pakistani people to overthrow the Ayub government; which has been the backbone of the independence struggle of the Palestinians and Kashmiris, etc.
Coming back to 1969, after Ayub’s government was done with, this power of the nation’s gene, quite inexplicably, went into a prolonged period of inactivity; it even stayed that way when our elected prime minister was tried in a comic court and then hanged; or when two elected governments were ousted by military dictators; or when a two-time former PM was assassinated, in a security lapse.
And if such high-profile events weren’t able to set off the ‘power gene’, it would be foolish to believe that issues like the price hike of basic food items and fuel and the government’s refusal to ban exports of these very items would be able to do that.
It seems our people have become better practitioners of the law of omerta than the Italians themselves, and that a further mutation is the need of the hour to make them forget this law.
But before that happens, we have to identify the causes that have rendered our power gene inactive. One reason is an identity crisis. Are we Muslims? Or Sindhis, Punjabis, etc? Or, most worryingly, are we supporters of the PPP or MQM or PML (N) or ANP? This question seems to be plaguing each of us today. For me, however, it is enough that we’re human beings and citizens of Pakistan; two identities which entitle me to all scores of rights, including those of expression, health, education and employment among others, as envisaged under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as our Constitution.
It was this crisis that prevented the majority of people of Punjab, Balochistan and the Frontier from coming on the streets (and quite a population of Sindh too, I may add) when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.
Conversely, it was the absence of this crisis-confusion that enabled the Lebanese to forget their allegiance to either the pro-Syrian government or the Hezbollah and to not only withstand, but also repel attacks by an infinitely more resourceful Israel.
On any given day, thousands of people would gather on our streets etc to listen to our leaders, but wouldn’t come on the street to protest against the price hike, which has affected them more than it has the very same leaders. Why is this so?
Because for decades our rulers have encouraged a policy which all of us have studied in our history, but which the majority of us haven’t been able to recognise, i.e. the ‘divide and rule’ policy.
By dividing us on the basis of geographical, cultural and ethnic lines, our rulers have ensured that we won’t be able to gather together for any one purpose. This policy was deemed to be the easiest way possible for gaining access to the corridors of power, and we duly ensured that it was so.
Now we’re reaping the rewards for our own confusion and mistakes. However, it’s still not too late. The lawyers have had their power gene activated after a lapse of 60 years; all it took was the event of March 9, 2007. I had honestly thought that Benazir Bhutto’s assassination would have done so for the rest of us, but I was sadly mistaken.
Only God knows what we’re waiting for. Maybe the current economic crisis would turn on this gene that has eluded the Pakistani populace for the better part of 38 years. For if it doesn’t, then I may well start praying to God to mutate our power gene Himself, and would also advise the rest of you to follow suit.
ALI RAZA MEHDI
Karachi
Admiral Mullen has made a statement that the US forces could strike against militants in Pakistan anytime without obtaining prior information. Again the US has shown its arrogance and haughtiness by making such statements.
It is in itself a violation of the principles of international law to attack another state. Such an action would be tantamount to a violation of our sovereignty. Pakistani troops are taking action against militants operating in its area.
The operations have been successful and will gradually pave the way to clear such elements from our soil.
The US should be reminded that Pakistan is not Afghanistan where lawlessness prevails. Therefore, Mr Mullen and officials of the administration should desist from making statements as it shows their ineptitude in fighting the war against terror.
ZULFIKAR SAEED
Islamabad
THIS refers to the report (July 4) on the PCB chief’s statement on return from Dubai.
The PCB chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf, claims that the decision by the ICC to change the status of the Oval Test from forfeited to draw is a ‘big achievement’ for the PCB. What nonsense!
The change is the result of the English Cricket Board’s repulsion to carrying in their records any game as a win which is not cleanly won but awarded, forfeited or whatever, as a win. The English, for all their other faults, hate to lose, or win, in any other way on the sports field, but cleanly and squarely.
In the face of the PCB’s poor performance under his tenure which, like his sponsors, seems to be unending, Dr Ashraf’s attempts, like any upstart’s, to ‘shine’ in the reflected glory of ECB, or anyone, or anything, is understandable.
S. KHALID HUSAIN
Karachi
HERE is something important I would like to bring to the notice of the health authorities and the general public. At present I am living in Abbottabad where most of the poultry farms have been set up, in addition to Mansehra. I have this strange habit of ensuring that the chicken is slaughtered, skinned and packed in my presence.
Almost all chicken shops have those cemented bins or iron drums in which the slaughtered chickens are put before they are ready for skinning, cutting and packing.
A couple of days back as I went to get chickens, I looked into one of those bins out of curiosity and was shocked to see a dead chicken lying alongside the slaughtered ones.
The chicken seller unconvincingly told me that the dead chicken will be disposed of when the garbage truck comes in the evening.
Besides the ever present and live threat of bird flu, this practice has another unsavoury and grotesque aspect. Some people even suspect that the dead chickens are sold to restaurants at low prices and is also used in wedding meals. Do we really care what we eat?
NASSER KHAN
Abbottabad
THE government has announced 20 per cent increase in basic salaries of its employees, which is a good step, but what about the private and semi-government employees? Who will think and take care of them? I want to highlight the problems of Nadra’s contract employees.
Almost 85 per cent of employees in Nadra are working on a contract basis and getting nominal salaries. As their status hangs between government and private, they have been unable to get any benefit from the budget announcement.
A large number of employees have been serving for the past five to six years but they are still stuck in the same cadre without promotion or any compensation. All other departments facing the same situation are worried about their small salaries and career uncertainty.
On the other side, all the key posts possessed by the army personnel are getting handsome salaries, besides receiving other benefits like pensions from the army as well.
Recently, the chairman of Nadra has said that there will be no salary increase for contractual employees and if anybody can’t manage in the current salary can leave Nadra.
It is not easy to switch organisations. If these employees cannot get relief through the budget, why doesn’t Nadra announce by itself some relief to their contractual employees?
I would request the interior adviser, Rehman Malik, to look into the matter and take steps in favour of contractual employees of Nadra.
A CONTRACTUAL EMPLOYEE
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