GREAT WORK: I recently had a great experience with the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda). The voltage in my house got so low that the lights started flickering, and the motor refused to work. I telephoned 118 and the person concerned recorded my complaint. She was direct, asked the relevant questions and responded clearly and politely. Not much later, the repair staff arrived, and the fault was rectified within a few minutes. Well done, Wapda.

Shameem A. Khalid
Chiniot

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: Dys-functional local governments (LGs) are bad for governance as only a functional tier can ensure smooth service delivery. The malfunctioning of LGs in Pakistan is a reminder of how alienated people are from the local tier of governance. There is a massive communication gap between the common man and government officials. It is high time we made LGs truly functional.

Mohammad Uzair Zia
Rawalpindi

SAVING NATIONAL PARK: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently conducted a public hearing on its impact assessment report on Khayaban-i-Margalla extension. It did not actually touch upon the subject of the traffic and pollution that will be the inevitable fate of nearby national park. The relevant authorities should look into the matter.

Jawwad Zaki
Islamabad

NATIONAL INTEREST: This refers to the report ‘Let’s engage at opportune time, Pakistan tells US’ (Dec 9). Pakistan has been sacrificing its national interest for the interest of others. China, Russia and Iran had not been invited to the summit which was apparently the reason for our response to Washington. But let us not forget that both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had healthy virtual meetings with the US president. China and Russia did not bother to discuss with Pakistan before meeting their American counterpart.

They know they have to secure their national interests before anything else.

Ahsan Iqbal
Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2021