Mahathir’s sound advice

THE prime minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohammad, who was here last week on a two-day official visit, seized the opportunity to express himself on a number of bilateral, regional and international issues of interest to both Pakistan and Malaysia. He also took time to advise Islamabad on some economic and political matters of the moment. The essence of his advice to the present authorities and the incoming government was: be consistent in your economic policies, strive for a strong and stable government and shun frequent political bickering which hampers the process of development. It is sound advice and one only hopes that it will not be taken as gratuitous by those who follow parochial and narrow agendas. Malaysia’s passage from a backward and underdeveloped country to a vibrant, modern and economically successful country within a few decades is no accident. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad developed his own home-grown recipe for progress and adhered to it through the ups and downs of the international economic situation to take his country to where it is today.

An agricultural country with very little capital, Mahathir’s Malaysia invited foreign investment and continued to follow what the prime minister appropriately calls “consistent and transparent policies”, treated the private sector as the engine of growth and facilitated greater collaboration between the public and private sectors. This is the recipe which he has, appropriately enough, urged Pakistan to follow to get out of its current economic woes, although praising the country’s economic performance over the last three years. He coupled his comments by an offer of concrete and substantive help by agreeing to rectify the bilateral trade imbalance which is against Pakistan. He indicated his country’s willingness to invest in Pakistan in the fields of technology, construction and bio-technology. Pakistan would do well to focus more on collaboration with Malaysia in information technology as the latter has developed its IT sector to almost international standards and cooperation will help build on the progress made by Pakistan in this field in the last couple of years.

Malaysia and Pakistan also used the opportunity to sign two agreements — an investment agreement for constructing a liquid cargo jetty at Port Qasim on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis and a counter-trade agreement relating to export of Malaysian palm oil to Pakistan worth $50 million against export to Malaysia of cotton yarn, rice, fruits and other commodities of the same value. The Malaysian private sector is already engaged in developing an international standard golf course and a country club in Lahore costing about $25 million, and a Rs 20-billion modern township project in collaboration with Pakistan Railways is also in the offing. All this is over and above the $400 million 235MW Liberty Power Plant set up with Malaysian collaboration at Ghotki which was inaugurated by the visiting prime minister on Friday. Pakistan and many developing countries, especially Muslim states, look to Malaysia not only with envy but also as a model to follow — a country with a functioning parliamentary democracy and an economy based on self-reliance. One only hopes that the latest contacts between the two countries at the highest level and also at the levels of government functionaries and the private sector will help further deepen and expand their already cordial and mutually beneficial ties.

Another panchayat outrage

JUST when everyone thought the Meerwala rape case verdict would serve as a deterrent to social crime against women, another panchayat in Mauza Shamun in southern Punjab reportedly paraded a woman half-naked through the village streets on Thursday. Mother of eight, Sarwar Mai — her head and eyebrows forcibly shaved, face blackened and clothes torn to shreds — was made to walk through the village after a panchayat refused to hear her version of events that had led to separation from her husband. A landlord of the area was said to have presided over the panchayat after the Alampur union council nazim handed over Sarwar Mai to him for arbitration. The influential landlord, who has since conveniently gone missing along with the victim, kept Sarwar Mai imprisoned in his house before staging the panchayat drama. The police had made no arrests till this writing.

The shameful incident brings back memories of the shocking episode of Nawabpur near Multan in 1984, when three poor women were paraded naked in the village by the sons of another landlord and union council member. In the present case, both the union council member and the panchayat head concerned are well connected with those allowed to contest the general election after the so-called scrutiny and vetting of their credentials by the Election Commission. Is it not surprising then that the very people we were told would usher in ‘good governance’ and ‘real democracy’ should be handing down their brand of punishment and running private prisons? The utterly disgraceful incident calls for suo motu action by the Lahore High Court.

Reclaiming saline land

THE Punjab government has decided to provide gypsum powder bags to farmers at half the price for reclaiming land. Reckless use of subsoil water has degraded land while agriculture faces a serious threat from the salinity problem. It is particularly serious in Punjab where most of the 13,000 publicly owned and operated tubewells were installed under the SCARP programme. Government-owned tubewells were successful in controlling waterlogging, but their performance declined rapidly because of poor management. Although private tubewells also grew later, the maintenance and tariff costs are prohibitive for the farmers. As water becomes more saline, the productive capacity of land automatically declines. About 80 per cent of the tubewells are pumping water which is not suitable for irrigation. Saline discharges from drainage structures have contributed to the deterioration in the quality of water.

Provision of gypsum for salt-affected areas at subsidized rates can be helpful in reclaiming and developing vast tracts of land. But this must be accompanied by surface/ground water development as much water is needed for leeching of salts. About 17 per cent of Pakistan’s culturable command area has a water table within a few feet of the soil surface. Even fresh water can retard growth at this level. Another 32 per cent of the area has water within 10 feet of the surface. This too can be harmful for deep-rooted crops and as such constitutes a danger zone for possible increases in the water level. It is also important to check soil degradation caused by low water use efficiency and inadequate and inequitable water delivery which does not take into account changing water requirements during the crop season. A strategy that encompasses the full range of activities from basin level through irrigation to farm level needs to be developed to promote the sustainability of farm produce and productivity.