KARACHI, April 16: Though the city government is working on renovation of the historical Empress Market building in Saddar, the out-of-order clock on its tower still awaits attention.

The exterior of the market building is receiving an extensive facelift, including repair of walls and windows, new coats of paint on grilles and roofs, and of course a new lighting system. But the big clock on the tower is giving an ugly look.

Respect for time is a hallmark of all developed nations, but in our country, and even in its biggest and most educated city, this vital aspect of civic life is badly ignored. People in developed country correct their watches with the help of clock towers of their city, but in our part of the world these out-of-order and inaccurate tower clocks, due to negligence of the administration, are simply a joke about the civic sense of our people.

Hundreds of thousands of citizens, besides a considerable number of foreigners, visit or pass through the Empress Market area daily, and they all get a wrong message about the sense of respect for time by Karachiites and their administration.

The city government should look into this civic matter and order an urgent repair of not only faulty clock of Empress Market, but also of other historical clocks, such as one at the Old KMC Building and Merewether Tower. Besides, the old mechanical clocks, big electronic clocks should also be installed at these buildings.

Big electronic clocks should also be installed at other importance buildings, busy traffic intersections, parks, markets, universities, professional colleges, mosques, bus stops, railway stations and other public places to help developing a sense of respect for time amongst the citizens. —PPI