Tackling power crisis
Plans to set up additional power generation units for Karachi on an emergency basis are encouraging. According to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, the city faces a shortfall of 600 megawatts, which is one of the major reasons for frequent power breakdowns and load-shedding in peak consumption periods.
So serious is the energy problem forecast for the city that rules and regulations specified under the 2002 power policy have been set aside so that a project to generate additional power can be completed during the coming year.
For this, the government is looking at a proposal under which a barge-mounted power plant will be brought to city shores and set up using the KESC's resources, so that additional power is made available to bridge the gap.
While this is reassuring, one wonders why no planning was done over the past few years to meet the growing shortfall. According to estimates, in the coming year or so, the KESC's shortfall will rise even further on account of industrial growth as well as increase in both commercial and domestic power consumption.
Despite the tall claims by the army-led management of the KESC about the revamping of the system and bringing down line losses, the ground reality has not changed much.
Line losses stand at about 40 per cent while the internationally accepted level is under 10 per cent. Wastage of so much electricity is a national loss that needs to be contained. Part of the problem is the continued rise in power theft, especially through the 'kunda' system.
The ultimate victims of this practice are the hapless power consumers, who suffer frequent power cuts, fluctuations and low voltage. The rise in power consumption in Karachi also needs to be looked at from this perspective. If line losses are substantially brought down, the KESC will have much more power at its disposal to help bridge the demand-supply gap.
As things stand, power rates in Pakistan are one of the highest in the region. Even President Musharraf has said that power tariffs need to be cut for all consumers, as the present rates are not justifiable.
Lower tariffs are also needed for industrial units to make Pakistan's exports competitive in world markets. The government has committed to reduce power tariffs "considerably" by 2005-06 by which time the country would attain sufficient hydro-electric power production capacity.
Once the Ghazi Barotha project is fully operational, the thermal-hydel ratio of power generation will improve significantly in favour of hydro-power generation. However, producing enough electricity to meet the country's requirements is just one aspect of the problem.
The larger issue that needs to be addressed is improving the performance of both Wapda and the KESC. Last year, both these utilities failed to achieve their performance targets on all major counts despite injections of around Rs55 billion during fiscal 2002-03.
To blame for this situation are their weak financial positions as well as higher transmission and distribution losses. In the final analysis, it seems that the actual problem lies not only in these issues but also in the failure to plan ahead and tackle problems of growing shortage and line losses.
American indiscretions
Two indiscretions have happened in recent days that highlight the sensitive and tricky nature of Islamabad's post-9/11 relationship with Washington. The first was an announcement by US President George W. Bush of the capture by Pakistani authorities of a man suspected to be Al Qaeda's communications mastermind.
Mr Bush went on to reveal the detainee's name not knowing that at that time he was working as a double agent for Pakistani intelligence, sending email messages to unsuspecting Al Qaeda operatives.
The 'sting' operation being supervised by Pakistani intelligence fell apart after the disclosure of the suspect's name. It also forced the British authorities to prematurely arrest members of a suspected Al Qaeda cell in the UK which meant that any subsequent case against them in court would be weaker.
It was taken to prevent the suspects from going underground which they might have once the double agent's cover was exposed by the Americans. The second snafu relates to the arrest two weeks ago of two suspects in the US whom the FBI charged with money laundering and plotting the assassination of Pakistan's ambassador using shoulder-fired missiles.
It later transpired that the two men were arrested after a long sting operation, this time by the FBI, and that a US government informer had actually suggested the Pakistani ambassador to be a potential target.
The demarche by the Foreign Office to the US embassy on this particular account makes sense, given that there is no compelling reason why the FBI chose to drag the Pakistani ambassador in as a potential target.
For all its past indiscretions and foreign policy misadventures, Islamabad seems at least to have the right intentions this time in the fight against religious extremism and terrorism.
Regrettably, when it does act with some initiative and manages to get an alleged Al Qaeda operative to act as a double agent, all the work comes to nothing because some senior US officials are more concerned about scoring points to boost their opinion poll rankings.
And then they have the gall to lecture Pakistan every now and then that it isn't doing enough. America needs to be more discreet in its relationship with its allies, especially those who bend over backwards to help it in its war against terror.
CEC's directive
The Election Commission has done well to take note of the opposition's complaints with regard to the by-election in Tharparkar next week. In a letter to the Sindh chief minister, Chief Election Commissioner Irshad Hassan Khan has sought his comments on the alleged violations of the rule for campaigning in the by-election in NA-59.
His concerns stem from a variety of charges made by the opposition parties, which have alleged that Sindh's government machinery is working for the benefit of Mr Shaukat Aziz. The PPP especially has accused Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim of personally running the finance minister's election campaign.
According to the PPP, he had also announced the launching of several development projects in the area to boost Mr Aziz's electoral chances. This, according to the party, constituted a violation of election ethics.
As a rule all complaints regarding electoral malpractices must be lodged with the returning officers. However, while the opposition parties have gone public with their complaints, they have not bothered to make them official by writing to the returning officers.
These are procedural matters. What is important is that the two by-elections should not only be transparent; they should also be seen to be fair and free by all, including the opposition parties, more so because one of the candidates happens to be the prime minister in waiting.
His election has been taken for granted, because two "safe" seats were vacated for his benefit. On the opposition's part, the mere assured success of the PML candidate should be no ground for it to allege that efforts are afoot to rig the by-elections.
Instead, they should come out with specific charges and not make vague allegations in the press. As Sindh's chief executive, Dr Rahim should take note of the opposition's complaints and reply to the CEC's note. The government machinery should in no way involve itself with the election campaign of any candidate.