A case for import of cars

I was quite shocked to read the contents of Mr Shehzad Arif's article on the above subject (Dawn Business and Economic Review, March 15).

First, the writer incorrectly states that Pakistani manufacturers are selling cars at twice the price in the international market. He says a Toyota car is sold for Rs1.3 million in Pakistan as against Rs789,735 for an 1800cc Toyota Sedan in Japan. The facts are that even a 2000cc Toyota Saloon is sold in Pakistan for Rs1,189,000 (not Rs1.3 million). Further, the prices of Pakistani cars include element of freight, duties and sales taxes paid by assemblers/vendors to the extent of 45 per cent. Excluding such levies, the price of a locally-made 1600cc fully loaded saloon car costing Rs10,79,000 would stand reduced to Rs744,000 as compared to Rs789,735 for a Japanese 1800cc car.

Secondly, the writer says that Pakistani-made Toyota or Honda is not available for up to two years. This is incorrect. The present delivery period for all cars ranges between two and six months.

Thirdly, the writer emphasizes that those who cannot afford to buy new cars should have the option of buying used/reconditioned imported cars. He fails to appreciate the fact that a used locally-manufactured car becomes available whenever anyone buys a new locally-assembled car. Therefore, a large market of locally-produced used cars are available for consumers who cannot afford new cars. Import of reconditioned cars of dubious quality is definitely not an answer to the problem.

Fourthly, the writer's allegation that locally- produced cars begin to rattle in a few months does not hold water. Damage to cars is attributable more to the poor condition of our badly maintained roads rather than to the quality of the cars.

Regarding the allegation that vendors operate obsolete machines and lathes (as against computerized machines), let me invite the writer to visit any of the 800 or so vendor companies which has a latest state-of-the-art, fully computerized machining centre and automated equipment. Our own labour force was trained in Japan under a technical agreement with one of the largest manufacturers of automotive radiators.

Finally, we do not cheat/steal electricity or any taxes. Such allegations are both defamatory and libellous, and should be avoided.

The writer has labelled all segments of the population as "corrupt". I wish he had the decency to attack the merits or demerits of the issues rather than the personalities involved.

He says representatives of the industry (i.e. assemblers and vendors) should not even be invited by the cabinet's ministerial committee to be heard, before taking a decision on import of cars. This is an unfair demand, because no one should be condemned unheard. Everyone, including the importers of the cars, car assemblers and the vendors should be heard and the final decision should be taken in the supreme interest of the nation alone.

In conclusion, I emphasize that import of cars will rob the country of the benefits of transfer of technology, investments and industrialization, as well as deprive people of employment opportunities.

MUNIR BANA

Karachi

NSS and euro bonds

The State Bank governor and the finance minister have always been averse to the running of national savings schemes (NSS) as they considered them to be expensive borrowing by the government. They never consider the welfare aspect of the schemes, though their very name suggests that the purpose behind introducing them was to encourage savings and provide a reasonable source of income to savers.

The economic managers have reduced the rate of profit on these investments from 16.33 per cent to 6.3 per cent - a reduction of 10.3 per in the rate and a more than 100 per cent cut in the income of individual investors during the last four years.

Even the 10 per cent withholding tax continues to be deducted from the profit on such investments despite the announcement of its withdrawal by the finance minister in the National Assembly recently. Also, the facility of sale and purchase of certificates by banks has not been restored.

After all this, the most shocking thing was yet to be seen; euro bonds worth $500 were recently floated by the SBP/finance ministry and marketed abroad. They carry a rate of return of 6.75 at a time when there was no need for these funds and that too at such a high rate of return. Even the local market is liquid and the foreign exchange reserves have been rising.

One wonders if it is not expensive borrowing. What is the rationale behind this flotation? What are the motivating factors for this venture? Who will bear the burden of this expensive borrowing?

After crushing Pakistani investors, foreign nationals are being openly favoured. The NSS are linked to market conditions, PlBs and other financial instruments, but the euro bonds are linked neither to market conditions nor to any other instruments.

The question is: what has happened to the concept of good governance and transparency? Banks' profits have gone up, and the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer because the banking and fiscal policies have been designed to favour the affluent, not the poor. As a result, the unemployment has gone up, the cost of living has been rising on a daily basis and the number of people living below the poverty line is alarmingly high.

It is time the performance of the banking and fiscal managers was reviewed to ascertain the true picture of the economy. A critical examination should also be made of the strategic measures which are claimed to have been taken to reduce poverty in the long term.

SOHAIL AHMED

Karachi

PTCL: unattended complaints

Telephone No. 5375785 has not been working for 25 days. I have lodged complaints with Karachi's Clifton Telephone Exchange almost every alternate day on the phone numbers 5870000, 5868761 and 5873344 but in vain.

Every time the reply is that it has been fed into the exchange computer and the line would be rectified automatically. Will someone in authority end my ordeal?

M. SIRAJUL HASSAN

Karachi

(2)

Our telephone No. 6956226 went out of order a few days before Eidul Fitr. We registered complaints - many, many times - with 18, 106, 4559292, 0800-44544 and 111-900-900. Our telephone is still not working.

Although the telephone is dead, we are being charged the line rent. Is this charging justified?

WAHEED ALAM

Karachi

(3)

My telephone No. 6692003 has not been working since February 7. I have lodged with Karachi's Orangi Exchange complaints numbers 83, 57, 34, 51 and 58 on February 7, 10, 11, 17, 26, respectively. Two more complaints were lodged - 3532 (0800-44544 Islamabad) and 852 (2629910 main complaint) on March 3.

I also met the divisional engineer, Orangi Town Telephone Exchange. A lineman of the exchange visited my residence and, after writing on my complaint slip "primary cable fault", left and never turned up.

Despite the above-mentioned complaints and my personal visit, no other action has so far been taken to restore my telephone line.

I request the PTCL general manager to look into the matter and order immediate restoration of my telephone service.

NAJMA BANO

Karachi

Karachi One-Day International

Thanks to our friends from India for playing the first One-day International at Karachi after 15 wasteful years. Congratulations to them on winning the match.

Although the Pakistani team lost the match, they came out equally victorious in one of the most thrilling and absorbing six to seven hours of high-class performance, where true cricket was seen from top-class cricketers.

No one can deny victory to Karachiites for their exemplary attendance and mature behaviour.

The love of Karachiites for the game of cricket has proved to the managers of cricket all over the world that Karachi is a venue that should not be ignored in future.

M. ASAD DAR

Karachi

(2)

It was a delight to see a nail-biting finish after such a long time and to watch a real battle live and exclusive between Pakistan and India in a calm atmosphere. It proved that Karachiites are a galaxy of people who are disciplined, well-behaved, educated and one that can rise to the occasion and face the gloomy decision of the fate with full courage and resolution.

It was so moving, so exhilarating to behold that our team could chase such a huge target even under the pressure of a nerve-shattering game. Our team, specially our batsmen, proved to be on their mettle. The innings played by Inzamamul Haq established that he was no doubt a class by himself. Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan, the newcomer to the pitch, showed himself as a promising player.

However, our team has always to be on a red alert. They must work on their line and length. With intelligent planning, an aggressive strategy and improved bowling line they are sure to win.

QUDSIA KAMAL

Karachi

Ladies' enclosure in coaches

Coaches plying in Karachi between Surjani Town and Clifton and Surjani Town and Tower are violating the rules with impunity as regards the enclosures for women.

On March 20 I was travelling along with my family in Omar Coach from Surjani Town. Women members of my family were put at great odds as male passengers fully occupied the ladies' enclosure, though several seats in the men's compartment were lying vacant. No one had the courage to protest. Everyone, including the driver and the conductor, were silent spectators.

Similarly, Data Coach plying between Surjani Town and Clifton hardly follows the rule of not allowing men to occupy women's enclosure. The violation of the rule happens on a massive scale, especially between Surjani Town and Shafiq Mor where there is no traffic policeman.

I request the Karachi traffic DIG him to take action to stop this malpractice.

WAZIR ALI

Karachi

Our foreign policy goals

The president's visit to the Foreign Office and his meeting with its senior management on March 12 may be seen from a global perspective. At present, the FO is making slow progress in strategic, economic and political sectors, especially in achieving a thaw in our relations with India. It is being keenly watched by those stakeholders who have their eyes on the progress of the South Asian region.

A visit by the Indian cricket team may conjure up a feeling of a very friendly relationship, but what will happen after their 40-day tour? Cricket diplomacy was also used in the early '80s. How come the FO is facilitating a visit of a neighbourly Indian state's chief executive to a province of ours, but doing nothing to arrange similar visits between the leaders of the other Indian and Pakistan states and provinces?

If the East Punjab chief minister and his team can meet our Punjab counterparts, why cannot the Sindh chief minister meet his Rajasthan or Gujarat counterpart? If the two Punjabs were one entity in the past, so were Sindh and Gujarat or Maharashtra. Sindh and Gujarat can play a pivotal role in building Hindu-Muslim amity.

Let us look at the outcome of the peace proposals offered to us by India in October 2003. In Lahore, the Wagah border has promptly been opened for train and bus travel, but the FO is dragging its feet in both providing visa facilities in Karachi and allowing the Indians to open a camp office here. It is learnt that this issue is once again linked with the controversial bilateral issue of the Mumbai residence of the Quaid-i -Azam - an impossible task to achieve.

The Karachi-Mumbai ferry service has not been resumed yet. Again, the matter regarding the Khokrapar-Munabao railway link has not been discussed, though the Khokrapar-Munabao bus service has been discussed. Although not much work is involved in this regard, no action is forthcoming. The people from Sindh have to visit Islamabad at a terrible cost to seek an Indian visa. Those who get visas have to return to Karachi, pack their baggage and leave once again for Lahore. Responsibility for all such miseries should go to the account of our Foreign Office.

The reality is that the senior management of the FO is not serious about giving economic advantages to our business community and the fruits of people- to-people contacts to our certain region.

The job of a foreign office - be it of the US, Britain or India - is not to make foreign policy but to implement it. The foreign policy of a country is made by the government and its leadership. It is time our present leadership had its own foreign policy staffers, perhaps through lateral entry specialists from outside the government.

I suggest that the chief executive of the country should have his own foreign policy advisers on regional and global issues for the purpose of policy formulation. The FO should work to ensure implementation of policy decisions, as well as look after the traditional mission of the foreign services - representations, negotiations and reporting on policy issues, with the role of a contributor to the policy formulation process, and not as its leader.

KUNWAR KHALID YUNUS

Karachi

Loose Talk

I want to draw your attention to a recent private TV channel programme called Loose Talk. It had noted writer Anwar Maqsood interviewing two Biharis portrayed by Moin Akhtar and Javed Jaffry. I am a proud Bihari and a proud Pakistani and unfortunately cannot give high marks for such a show.

Laughter at the cost of others' feelings or ethnicity cannot be called decent humour. No TV channel should put out programmes that may have the potential to hurt the feelings of any community.

SHAMIM MOZAFFAR

Safat, Kuwait

Alleviating poverty

This is with reference to the remarks (March 13) made by the prime minister while speaking to reporters at the recent convocation of the Government College University, Lahore. He said that only God could eliminate poverty, but the government was making efforts to alleviate it.

The government is continuously taking foreign loans and aid for alleviating poverty while the gap between the rich and the poor is widening with every loan and aid received. On the one hand, the country is under heavy debt, and on the other the common citizen is burdened heavily with taxes.

The worsening law and order situation is common knowledge. Routinely, every murder is registered as committed by "unknown killers". These killers disappear from the scene like a genie while the law-enforcers are said to keep standing alert and patrolling round the clock. The law-enforcement agencies merely guard and look after VIPs, whereas their prime duty is to provide safety and security to all citizens.

The question is: when there is no progress on alleviating poverty and raising the living standard of the common citizen, why are we taking foreign loans and aid? There is hardly any justification for imposing heavy taxes on the people.

Unfortunately, our entire system is based on the "doctrine of necessity". Unless we tackle the causes of the failure of our system, nothing can be achieved.

TAJ MOHAMMAD

Karachi

Religious diversity

I have read with interest the report "Textbooks insensitive to religious diversity" (Metropolitan, Islamabad, March 16) by Mr Khawar Ghumman.

According to the writer, too much of the curriculum is about Islam. This country was made for Muslims so therefore Islam should be openly taught in textbooks. Pakistan is not a secular nation and we have full right to display our religion and our thoughts and ideologies in our text books so that our future generations know why Pakistan was created.

I am a students of FSc. Our course was revised and our present textbooks are quite different from the previous ones. I must say that they are much better and more informative. But what I noticed after comparing them with the previous ones is that 'Bismillah' has been dropped from the chemistry and physics textbooks. The chapters on Quranic verses relating to the subject have also been omitted from all of the science books (physics, biology and chemistry). There is very little or simply no mention of Muslim scientists in our new books.

SARA HAQUE

Islamabad

Railway police help centre

The other day I had the opportunity to visit the Lahore railway station. It was a pleasant surprise to see a board reading "Railway Police Help Centre". It kindled my curiosity, as the combination of police and help seemed quite strange to me. Hence, I visited the place to see the ground realities. To my surprise I could see facilities ranging from a first-aid box to wheelchairs there, and was told that the centre was providing help to the common people in distress, especially rail passengers.

The centre has played a role in locating the parents of lost children, including runaways, and has handed over almost 325 children to their parents.

Such small initiatives can prove to be a factor in transforming the police culture and improving the plight of children.

FARHAT MANSOOR SIDDIQI

Lahore

KESC's attitude

I would like to draw the attention of the relevant authorities to the unhelpful attitude of the KESC. The electricity connection of my office at S-4, Sultan Complex, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi, was disconnected for non-payment of a bill which was terribly overcharged for Rs92,000 for one month.

Obviously this was either a typographical mistake or a computer input mistake in the billing department, and the staff at the billing office also accepted that. The normal bill for the said location ranged between Rs250 and Rs300. There could not ever be a charge of Rs92,000 in one month in an office space of 180 square feet, with no airconditioner or any electric-consuming outlets.

Although I have written a number of letters and even visited the billing offices, the mistake in the bill has not yet been corrected, nor has the electricity supply restored to my office.

For months there has been no electricity in my office where I would like to establish my business. How long will I have to suffer?

NAVAID M. KHAN

Karachi