Privatization of PSO & OGDC

THE news in Dawn’s issue of Oct 2 regarding the forthcoming initial public offerings of OGDC shares, as well as repeated announcements about privatization of PSO, signals our government’s desire to do away with the petroleum ownership.

Together these companies represent Pakistan’s local version of British Petroleum (BP) of the UK and it will not be out of context if their privatization should be compared with and handled in the manner similar to BP.

In 1987 when the Thatcher government privatized the then British Petroleum, stock market crashed at the same time, which made sale of these shares an extremely difficult proposition. These shares which were offered to the common man in the UK were available at a substantial discount.

Taking advantage of this situation, the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO) in Britain acquired well over 20 per cent of the shares offered. When this fact was known, KIO was forced to surrender their holding, in excess of the allowable limit, back to British Petroleum. This was done to ensure that a foreign oil company does not acquire any undue influence over their petroleum; assets (North Sea Oil), marketing and policies.

Since then, KIO has again increased its holding to over 20 per cent, but this has been done with KIO’s undertaking not to seek a seat on the board of BP and not to attempt to influence BP’s policies.

Now here in Pakistan, we are trying to sell 51 per cent of PSO to a foreign company (I am not certain about OGDC plans) and, thereby, providing that (buyer) company a stranglehold control over PSO and the oil market (over 60 per cent) in the country. The question arises, why are we doing this? Does PSO require cash, marketing or management expertise or access to supplies? The answer to these questions is: No, it does not require any cash, marketing or management expertise as it is doing fairly well and continues to grow. It currently acquires its supplies from the world market at the most competitive prices.

Rather it is the foreign oil company, whoever gets control of PSO, which will stand to gain from this acquisition. They will have a guaranteed market for their product(s), crude and refined, which will be sold to PSO, maybe at not-so-very-cheap prices. PSO will be acquired by any foreign oil company not to look after the interests of the people and the government of Pakistan, but primarily to make profits as much as possible for their owners and share holders, a correct corporate strategy.

Now the next question is, how do we privatize PSO and OGDC while protecting our national interest and the interest of the companies concerned? The answer is very simple: the government is holding the PSO and OGDC shares in trust for its real owners — the people of Pakistan. So let’s sell the company back to them. They should be offered the shares in suitable lots, say from 100 to 1,000 shares, as is being done in the case of NBP and now the OGDC.

KHALID ABDUSSALAM

Salmiya, Kuwait

Marriage expenses

ACCORDING to a report in the national press, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan has recommended strict laws to curb marriage ceremonies with elaborate feasts and decorations. One hopes that the commission has thoughtfully balanced the pluses and minuses of the proposed laws.

These laws might help in controlling extravagant expenses on marriage ceremonies, and will also put such powers in the hands of state functionaries as are incompatible with personal freedoms and sanctity of family life.

I believe that this social problem, like many others, would be better dealt with at the level of the civil society through voluntary organizations and reformist movements which can play a potent role in changing dysfunctional cultural practices.

The eagerness to ban marriage feasts etc. is prompted, one cannot help suspecting, by the unconscious operations of the taboo on almost all expressions of joy which is deeply embedded in our psyche. We get upset if people celebrate basant or a new year, or if they are guilty of expressing their love of life through song or dance. Because if we really wanted to cure ourselves of the ostentatious and wasteful displays of wealth we would begin with curbs on palatial mansions and expensive limousines which have no less potential for generating socially disruptive comparisons.

We should not lose sight of the fact that marriages are one bright spot in normally dull and drab life of most of our women. Marriages provide opportunities for relatives and friends to get together in a festive atmosphere, participate in colourful rituals, and have some collective singing and dancing which provide a stock of cherished memories for a life time. We must not allow any meddling of the state functionaries in this highly personal domain.

A. Z. BUTT

Lahore

Ignoring union councilors

THIS has reference to recent news about a report prepared by the NRB chairman after having consultation with legislators, civil servants and nazims for bringing about changes to the Local Government Ordinance and the Police Act, with the objective of making the system efficient.

However, during the consultation process, councillors were generally ignored and no efforts were made to ascertain their apprehensions about the system. It seems that its two-year functioning has been largely affected by a tussle on sharing powers between local government representatives, bureaucracy and provincial governments.

Policy-making and implementation processes at the council level have been a domain of nazims, and councillors are given no opportunity to involve themselves in development activities. Consequently, no-trust moves against union and taluka nazims are being passed all over the country, exposing the disagreement on power-sharing.

The NAB chairman has consulted only traditional power manipulators who want to concentrate authority in a few hands, an act which is against the very nature of the devolution plan. If the purpose is to make system efficient and workable, it is necessary to devolve power to the grassroots level as promised in the ordinance.

Therefore, before any changes are made to the ordinance, the NRB chairman should initiate another round of consultation with union councillors.

SALAM DHAREJO

Karachi

Performance in sports

THE year 1992 seems like a sweet dream that every Pakistani would like to have repeatedly. We won the Cricket World Cup in 1992, we were the number one hockey team, our snooker champion ruled the world, and the mention of squash brought a certain warmth to the heart as we knew we were the best. We ruled the world and being Pakistani was a prouder feeling than ever before.

Now 11 years down the road, we see ourselves mired in miseries. Cricket has taken a plunge, hockey has deteriorated to an abysmal level, we stand nowhere in squash at present, and we have nothing to write home about in the snooker arena. What has gone wrong?

There is a common malaise affecting all these sports: ad hocism and lack of consistency. The sooner we realize the need to be consistent in our selection policies and the necessity to rise above personal prejudices and egotistical leanings, the better we will come out of the rot.

The young guns need to be stuck with for goof and in the times to come they will deliver provided they are given confidence and an honest appraisal.

There is no doubt that civilians make better managers of our sports than the people who are the best guardians of our borders. Let’s hope we choose the right people for the right jobs.

ARSALAAN AHMAD SIDDIQI

Karachi

Scholarship programme

THIS refers to the letter (Oct 13) by Syed Sajid Ali Shah about an Overseas Scholarship Programme which the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has launched this year for promoting human resource development.

I also applied for this scholarship (advertised on June 13-14) to be able to pay my tuition fees of advanced studies programme called MILE (Master in International Law and Economics) at World Trade Institute, Berne, Switzerland, but I have not received any response from the HEC yet.

I am the only Pakistani who got admission to the programme for becoming a trade negotiator to understand the rules and regulations of the World Trade Organization. I tried my best to arrange my tuition fees by approaching the prime minister, the Sindh chief minister, the federal education minister and Sindh education minister, but none of them has helped me so far.

I also contacted the State Bank of Pakistan for borrowing a student loan, but the governor sent me a letter stating that the SBP had no provision to facilitate my matter. Now I have had my admission deferred till the next academic year (2004-05).

The HEC and the ministry of education are requested to approve my request for the scholarship.

GHULAM SHABIR BABAR

Karachi

Pensioners’ plight

APROPOS of the letters published in these columns (Sept 22, Aug 29 and June 2), I clarify an apprehended manipulation done by the ministry of finance, with the apparent intention to defy judgment of the ombudsman of Oct 10, 1992, through an undated representation, indicated in letter No. 144/95, dated 9.2.2000. This was done several years after the enhanced pension to post-’86 pensioners, which was denied to the old pensioners.

Our association brought this to the notice of the chief executive of Pakistan on 12.2.2001 and followed up the matter from time to time — the last reminder to the president was made on 21.7.2003 under registered post endorsing copies to all concerned — but all the letters remain unanswered till date.

The old pensioners are at the fag-end of their life and are in the age group of 80-90 years.

This is a glaring example of ‘Adl’ in our Islamic Republic, which the whole country has been propagating since the birth of our nation.

MAHMOOD KHAN MAKKI

President, Pakistan Pensioners’ Welfare Association,

(Karachi Branch),

Karachi

Service quota for N. Areas

AT present the service quota for the Northern Areas is part of Fata. The standards of education in the Northern Areas and the NWFP vary greatly because in the Frontier there is a network of good universities and educational institutions, whereas the Northern Areas has a very limited number of not-so-good institutions. This is the reason that those who take competitive examinations usually get low marks compared with the candidates belonging to the NWFP and Fata. The quota of Northern Areas thus goes to the Fata candidates.

It is necessary to separate the service quota of the Northern Areas. For example, with one per cent allocation a separate quota for the Northern Areas will mean 50 officers in the CSS cadre as against the present 20 officers or fewer. Moreover, Northern Areas officers are not represented in the postings abroad.

BARIHA SHIREEN

Islamabad

Application for CNIC

MR Sultan Ali has complained about the status of his wife’s application for the computerized national identity card, which he had submitted on June 18, 2003. He also mentioned the inconvenience he faced in acquiring this card.

Nadra would like to clarify that any information about the card status can be acquired from a state-of-the-art-call centre whose UAN number is 111-786-100.

All applicants should, therefore, call Nadra call centre to avoid any unnecessary inconvenience and hassle before visiting Nadra offices for receiving CNICs. For swift and hassle-free delivery of the cards, Nadra has also established distribution centres in all major cities.

The application of Mr Sultan Ali’s wife for the computerized national identity card was rejected because of an incomplete application. The Nadra official at PHQ, Karachi, has conveyed the message to Mr Sultan who has agreed to resubmit the application.

SOHAIL ASIF

Director Media, Nadra,

Islamabad

Income tax Ordinance

THE provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, have finally been put into practice. A modern tax system, minimization of discretionary powers of tax collectors and self-assessment of taxes are among the slogans our high-ups have been chanting since day one. Moreover, certain instruments have been made part of the statute to ensure that no misreporting is done.

Optimistically, all these efforts will not only pave the way for building taxpayers’ confidence but also improve economic growth of our country. On the other hand we are yet to witness how the tax administrators will honour the words of the legislation as past experience has been really dampening.

In order to achieve what has been desired, the government should evolve strict measures to check the process being adopted in implementing the law in letter and in spirit. It is time the government proved its sanctity.

It is important that all this should be done on a priority basis as none of the genuine taxpayers is in a mood to watch the replay.

FARHAN H. JAFRI

Karachi

Syed Hashim Raza

SYED Hashim Raza’s death at the age of 92, when one is unable to make much contribution, is an irreparable loss to his family and the country. He was undoubtedly an institution in himself. The services he rendered are many and hard to forget.

Persons like him deserve that in their memory a gold medal or a scholarship programme should be initiated for the most meritorious student engaged in research on the Pakistan movement or on a related field.

M. SHAFIQUE AHMED

Karachi

Factory pollution

DANDOT Cement Factory is situated hardly one kilometre from Khewra Town. This factory is emitting dust and smoke day and night, affecting both the health of the residents and the flora and fauna of the town.

Every morning a small layer of dust from the factory is seen settled not only on our bodies, beds and floors, but also on the trees and grass around us. The people of Khewra Town are thereby becoming victims of many diseases of respiratory and digestive systems. I strongly urge the authorities concerned to prevail upon the management of the factory to adopt preventive measures to make the environment pollution-free and not to play havoc with the health of the people

RAJA FAYYAZ AL HASSAN

Khewra

Dams — a necessity

WITH reference to Mr M. Moinuddin Baig’s letter “Building a dam” (Oct 14), I would like to point out that dams are much more than a necessity for Pakistan.

Our country has more than enough water but we do not have enough dams to store and judiciously utilize it. The few dams that we have produce electricity for the country. If there are more dams, the electricity production will increase, thus reducing power charges greatly.

WWF is looking at dams from one aspect. While some people become homeless owing to construction of dams, the rest of the nation gets water and electricity. For a country like ours there are more important things to do than to worry about a river’s flow being cut off.

FARIHA NASIR

Karachi

Carving up the Holy Land

VATICAN Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano indicated to US Secretary of State Colin Powell when the latter met Pope Paul John II on June 2 this year that the “sovereignty of the independent Palestine state must not be compromised by scattered Jewish settlements” and that “a state cannot exist like a Swiss cheese with holes all through it”. The Pope warned the world against the invasion of Iraq, and his was the loudest voice to denounce war and injustice.

The warning of the Vatican to the US secretary of state concerned the roadmap for the Holy Land conceived by the Quartet. Its release was delayed first and accepted only with 14 reservations. In spite of the fulfilment of the conditions by observance of a unilateral ceasefire by the Palestinian Authority and the personal push of President Bush and King Abdullah of Jordan, the roadmap failed to move. It failed mainly because of two illegal conditions of denuding Chairman Yasser Arafat of all powers and the complete disarming of all Palestinian freedom-fighters against occupations of their land and destroying all their organizations. The latter objective had not been achieved in Northern Ireland in spite of the best and constant efforts of the two governments over decades.

At the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, the Quartet representatives met on Sept 26 to consider the means to restart the stalled roadmap. UN Secretary -General Kofi Annan read out the common position of the Quartet, which was almost indistinguishable from that of the US’s, the main ally of Israel and the only party with influence over the Israeli government, the occupying country. The UN secretary-general was, therefore, compelled to add his personal note as he could not disregard the report of the UN’s own special coordinator for the Middle East process read before the Security Council meeting on Sept 15.

The failure of the UN mission in Iraq involving the death of secretary-general’s own representative, with over 20 other staff members, should have reminded him of the death of his own predecessor when US and other countries were determined to remove the democratically-elected prime minister of Congo, Patrice Lumumba, who was subsequently killed. He has to ensure that Congo is not repeated in the Holy Land. The secretary-general should show greater courage as he has received Nobel Peace Prize.

It must be remembered that it was the UN resolution of May 1948 that has brutalized the Holy Land for half a century. It was another Munich Agreement of Sept 29, 1938, for Palestine was neither a member of the UN, nor was any of its representatives present at the time of “Nakba”.

H. A. HAJI

Karachi