Bumpy road to grassroots system!: DATELINE SUKKUR

IT was claimed by the government that grassroots governance would be firmly in place by the middle of 2002, i.e. the old system would phase out without much trouble. But what is happening today is that the new system is getting jerks and jolts. The first four months in the interior have seen some fireworks between the district coordination officers and the newly-elected Nazims, much to the annoyance of the people at large.

Jacobabad, a tribally-dominated district, is seeing a battle going on between the DCO and the Zila government. The battle reached its climax when Naib Nazim Jakhrani succeeded in getting through a resolution against DCO Mir Muhammad Parihar, in which he had demanded of the Sindh government to transfer him from Jacobabad.

Parihar, on the other hand, is said to be resisting the ‘unjust’ actions. At least in one known case the DCO did not oblige the district government bosses who wanted, under tribal influence, the cancellation of a validly-acquired permit for opening a petrol pump in the Kashmor taluka.

In Shikarpur, DCO Gul Mohammad Umrani is in conflict with the Zila administration led by Nazim Arif Khan Maher, the son of former Sindh speaker Ghous Bux Khan Maher. In Ramazan the Zila government had wanted to issue permission to hotels and restaurants to open at day time. This was resisted by Umrani on the plea that the administration had no right under LB rules and that only the DCO was empowered to do so.

In Sukkur, the matter is a little different. Here a provincial minister, and not the Zila administration, came into conflict with DCO Nisar Ahmed Siddiqi. According to reports, the minister had taken notice of what was called an order passed by the DCO for freezing the posting of the medical superintendent, Civil Hospital, Dr Khalid Shaikh. The controversy is said to have caused sheer anger to the health minister, a retired general, who calmed down only when the DCO, after a bitter taste in the mouth and under great pressure, withdrew his decision.

Again, another doctor, Iqbal Pathan, was asked to resume the charge of MS, and once again Dr Khalid Shaikh was deprived of his duty. All this development was in the knowledge of the minister and it was only after the intervention of the chief secretary, on behalf of the governor, that the DCO finally withdrew the posting order of Dr Iqbal Pathan, paving the way for Dr Khalid to join as MS. But the dispute did not end there. Acting Nazim Iqbal Pakwala was annoyed on the reversal of this order and publicly spoke against the posting of Dr Khalid Shaikh as MS through the withdrawal of the earlier orders of the DCO and said that when an order was flouted by the provincial authority, there was no use in being a part of a helpless system.

He expressed his concern over the attitude of the Sindh health minister, Maj-Gen Ehsan Ahmed, who was pressuring the functionaries of the Sindh government to appoint again Dr Khalid Shaikh as MS. He also criticized such pressure tactics as being harmful to the working of any democratic system.

He says Dr Khalid Shaikh is in grade-19 and stands at serial 180 in the seniority list. To ignore senior doctors and appoint him MS is not justified. He said that in such a way the Zila government could not run smoothly.

However, the whole fact is still to surface, as to what was the motive behind the acting Nazim’s initiative in resisting Khalid Shaikh’s posting as MS.

ROADS: Four months have passed but civic problems have not been tackled squarely. Thus while some roads have been repaired, the underground drain system remains a shambles. All around the city one could see the gutters flowing, and at least two dozen manholes are lying open.

The DCO had claimed sometime back that by October 2001 all cattle pens would be moved out of the city. It’s January 2002 but nothing has been done in this regard. At peak hours these animals come on the roads, blocking the traffic, as well as schoolboys, for long duration, besides causing pollution.

Community centres seized: DATELINE GUJRANWALA

AS many as 160,000 automobiles run on Gujranwala city roads. The local registration office has 87,500 motorbikes on its record while 8,000 motorcycles are registered in other districts. Some 32,000 cars ply on city roads. About 12,000 are registered with the local office while the rest are registered in other districts.

There are 3,996 wagons and loaders and 1,000 trucks and 2,000 buses and 1,300 mini-buses. The registration office has 322 auto-rickshaws on its record while 150 others registered in other districts, also operate here. As to luxury coaches, only 10 are registered with the local office while 100 others have registration of other districts.

As many as 179 jeeps, 11 flying coaches and 212 taxis are on the local office record while almost an equal number have registration of other districts. As many as 1,937 tractors and 22 ambulances are locally registered.

This unprecedented increase in automobiles has heavily polluted the city atmosphere that remains filled with poisonous smoke emitted by vehicles. Traffic on old, narrow roads designed many years ago has immensely increased. Noise and smoke pollution tell upon the nerves of citizens and hardly anybody can lead a healthy life. The roads cannot sustain this pressure and most have developed pits. Road cuts made years ago by the telecommunications and gas departments and Wasa have not been repaired.

The social circles feel much alarmed over the fast deteriorating traffic situation and atmospheric pollution, and have called for remedial measures.

A Christian, Yousaf Masih, donated his five marla plot while the then federal minister for minorities J. Salik provided funds for the construction of the centre. The centre was not put to community use. The donor of land first locked it and then seized the building for personal use.

Later, another Christian, Feroze Masih, donated a five marla piece of land and other community centre was constructed under the auspices of minority MPA Adil Sharif who provided the construction cost. Feroze Masih also, caught by greed, grabbed the building.

Now the donors use the centres for rearing cattle and keeping buffaloes. Dung and other animal waste cause the centres to stink while the community remains high and dry. The donors have grabbed costly government property. Feroze Masih has allegedly started demolishing the building to sell the material.

The pity is that these donors make claims over the community centres as a matter of right and argue that not only the land belonged to them, but also grants were sanctioned through their efforts and that they had shared the cost.

They also claim protection of the local government elected last year.

The community members are silent for fear of retaliation by influential land grabbers but certainly wish that both the community centres should be restored for common use and the occupiers punished.

Afghan DPs living in abject condition in illegal camps

THE broken and bumpy streets of Afghan refugee camp, Maskeenabad on the outskirts of Islamabad looks like a mini Kabul.

While passing through the narrow lanes, one finds Afghan kids roaming aimlessly, women clad in traditional burqas buying household stuff and men in shabby shalwar kameez selling rotten fruits or paddling bicycles towards their mud houses.

There are over hundred thousand displaced Afghans settled in Islamabad for over a period of two decades.

Their arrival in large number especially after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and ensuing internecine civil warfare gradually turned this Kutcha Abadi into one of the biggest refugee camps in Pakistan.

American bombing of Afghanistan in October led to further expansion of this refugee camp. What is disturbing about this camp is that it has no legal status since Pakistan authorities do not recognize it. This means no organization or individual can extend humanitarian assistance to the people of this camp.

The majority of the population comprises children from ages 5 to 13. They are living a life of wretchedness and utter impoverishment and in the worst kind of unhygienic conditions. Their existence is a blot on the conscience of the civilized world.

Another appalling aspect of the refugee life is the steady growth of unhealthy environment leading to an outbreak of diseases like diarrhoea, hepatitis and malaria. The undernourished children are most vulnerable to these deadly diseases. Due to lack of medicines and proper healthcare have lost their lives.

There are some substandard clinics in the camp run by unqualified doctors and substandard medical facilities.

These camps are also devoid of any educational or entertainment facility for the Afghan children who spend their time without learning or enjoyment.

It is in camps like these that criminals and anti-social elements find easy refuge and have become breeding ground for terrorists. Small wonder, Pakistan has had to pay in terms of drug trafficking, weapons and economic decadence.

Life in these camps is a constant struggle for survival, and making both ends meet is an arduous work. The only available source of livelihood is a nearby fruit market where old, young and children all go to earn a few bucks.

Unable to grapple with their difficulties, they accuse the Afghan warlords and external forces for their fate as the proxy war games has rendered them homeless and indeed futureless.

Sultan Khan, running a small shop said, “we are caught between a proverbial legal devil and the deep sea of internal Afghan turmoil.” For him, it was strange that NGOs like Refugee International, Save the Children and UNHCR claim to work for humanitarian issues but don’t look at their marginalised existence just because their charter doesn’t allow to help unauthorized human settlements.

These organizations cite official hurdles in their way to provide relief in medical aid, food and shelter for them. He wondered whether procedural matters were more important or the lives of sick children, dying due to the shortage of basic health amenities.

The plight of these victims should be addressed on an urgent basis. The need of the hour is to deal with the issue with understanding and coordination between CDA and the relief agencies.

Efforts should be made for their rapid rehabilitation. The overthrow of Taliban regime has launched a new era of reconstruction of Afghanistan, which provides reassurance to these internally displaced Afghans.

But a lot depends on the leadership in Afghanistan. It is hoped that the new rulers will not revert to their old warring practices and force the Afghans to flee their country or discourage the refugees to return to their homeland. —Ziaur Rehman Hashmi