| August 27, 2006 | Sunday | Sha'aban 2, 1427 |
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Make things accurate & simple
Justice delayed is justice denied
Vice-chancellors’ appointment
Splitting Hair
What a swift service?
Good governance
Shameful brazenness
‘Gen Zia as I knew him’
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
WE are seeing the follies of 1994 energy policy being repeated, unfortunately with a vengeance, for who knows how long will this “freedom to accept any tariff” last?
We have repeatedly heard from self-appointed guardians of power policies that tariff of 9.75 cents per kWH, offered by wind power projects, is ‘good’ for the country and absurd comparison is being made that approved tariff of thermal power plant when operating on diesel fuel is above 12 cents equivalent.
No one asks these shenanigans why comparison is made with diesel fuel operation when this is only for emergency standby if, God forbid, we lose gas supply (due to sabotage?). A correct base-load operation comparison should obviously be made with natural gas operation and then we see how exorbitant is approved tariff for wind power.
Of course, we should always remember that we turned down tariff of 5.7 cents for Thar coal-fired power plant offered by a Chinese company only recently.
By comparison, we should see what the world is doing regarding renewable energy sources. Entirely ‘women-owned’ Nature’s Accent (a US private corporation) is offering to sell green power at a fixed price of 4.8 cents per kWH for a term of 30 years to New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Texas (in the US) with geographical conditions similar to ours.
The company is targeting one GW (1,000 MW) of renewable energy based on combination of wind technology with thermal solar and bio-mass (based on cow manure), all sources available in most parts of Pakistan.
How come we do not believe in proper research and go blindly with expensive proposals from abroad? Obviously, we are neither qualified to understand the real impact of renewable energy sources nor do we really want to control costs since both of the above will result in one basic requirement: experienced, qualified and honest authority. Where are we going to find Dr Atta-ur- Rehman’s equivalent to develop renewable energy sources, affordable and suitable to our needs?
How can we compete in this global market if we generate power at 9.75 cents while the world does it at less than 5 cents? What are we trying to do? There must be a better way to ‘kill’ the local industries, without this slow poisoning.
We are already paying enormous subsidies in covering the gap between Wapda and KESC power tariffs for customers and actual costs of power generation. What is going to happen when we start getting power at wind energy IPPs at 9.75 cents per kWH base price and add T and D losses and margins for power companies?
We are going through similar scam as we saw during 1994 energy policy (resulting in high power tariffs) and we seem to have learnt nothing in spite of enormous costs to national economy.
We must ensure economical power generation and, in the meantime, we have to learn to live within our means and that can only come when effective and sensible national energy conservation policies are followed and both electric power and our precious gas are consumed with an understanding that we are ultimately accountable for waste. It must be emphasised that to set a correct example worth emulation, our approach to energy conservation and living within our means must start at the very top.
AINUL ABEDIN
Karachi
WHILE searching for the application for national identity card for overseas Pakistani (NICOP) online on the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) web site, I came across the following paragraph: “A valid card issued to a non-resident citizen shall be the conclusive proof of his being a citizen of Pakistan for the purposes of availing protection of the government of Pakistan in any foreign country or state as a Pakistani citizen. The federal government shall recognise, afford and ensure full protection to them as citizens of Pakistan under the law.”
Protection against what, I wondered. Anyhow, I downloaded an application form in pdf format together with instructions for filling it correctly but could not find a list of supporting documents that a Pakistani citizen residing or intending to reside abroad for a period exceeding six months should submit to Nadra along with his application.
I then searched for the latter in the ‘Requirements’ page, posted by Nadra on the diplomatic mission of Pakistan in Canada website (http://www.pakmission.ca/NICOP.pdf ) but to no avail. In it, I noticed a gross deviation.
The submission of two coloured passport-size photographs stamped by the photographer, taken within past three months, was made obligatory for each applicant.
Meanwhile, Nadra’s website (http://www.nadra.gov.pk/site/340/default.aspx) clearly states that four photographs must be submitted.
To beat all, the Pakistan consulate accepted only one photograph which was glued on to the application form. By virtue of pasting the photographs on the application forms, the purpose of the photographer’s stamp was lost. Thus the $75 pus tax I spent on my family’s photographs was a complete waste. I could have produced good photographs with my own camera at negligible cost and pasted those on the application forms.
I also noticed that on Nadra’s website concerning the application procedure for NICOP it is stated: “Wherever small choice field boxes are provided in the form (e.g. in respect of type of application, gender, marital status, etc), the box adjacent to the appropriate answer is to be shaded and not to be ticked or checked”.
Whereas in the instructions appended to the pdf application form available on the same website it is stated that “wherever small choice field boxes are provided in the form, the box adjacent to the appropriate answer is to be ticked are checked like 3”. For the benefit of the people, why can’t things be made accurate and simple?
LT COL (r) SYED AHMED
Mississauga, Canada
A FEW days ago, while surfing the net, I opened the www.yahoo.com web page and a story on the main page caught my eye. It was a piece about the arrest of the suspected killer of JonBenet Ramsay, a six-year-old girl who was murdered 10 years ago in Colorado.
The suspected killer, John Mark Karr, was a schoolteacher who tried kidnapping her for ransom and she ‘accidentally’ died when the kidnapping attempt went awry. Karr left the United States several years ago and as years went by with no arrests, many lost hope and suggested that the case may never be solved.
But the police continued investigating, with the help of a professor in Boulder, who was in contact with Karr and kept feeding the police information. They finally caught him in Thailand and he will be taken to Colorado within the week, where he will face charges of kidnapping, child sexual assault and first-degree murder.
Reading this piece made me think about the crimes that occur, literally on a daily basis in our own country. Every morning, when I pick up the newspapers, I see at least 10 cases of rape, honour killing, and murder in every paper. For instance, the same day I saw the JonBenet case on yahoo, I picked up the paper in the morning and among many such stories was a report on the murder of a 14-year-old girl, who had also apparently been raped as she was three months pregnant.
Often, when questioned about such cases, that are now practically a part of our daily lives, senior government officials tend to remark that such cases are also common in many developed countries such as the US. What they don’t seem to realise, however, is that when such crimes are committed in those developed countries, they are investigated, not kept pending like the ones in our country.
They are looked into for years until suspects are caught and brought to justice, unlike in Pakistan, where complaints are noted and forgotten and the only victims who are taken seriously are those with influence.
In my opinion, before comparing the crime rates of Pakistan with those of the US and other First World countries, we should try to match the standards of our law-enforcement agencies with the efficiency and dedication of those in developed countries. The JonBenet case has caught the international media’s attention even 10 years after the crime was committed. This is because the investigation went on for 10 years until a suspect was caught.
PAARAS ABBAS
Khaldunia High School
Karachi
IT is common in developing countries to adopt half-backed policies in the name of efficiency. The recent decision of the government to once again adopt the policy of appointing vice-chancellors of public universities through advertisement is the case in point. It would be in public interest to analyse facts which may also educate policymakers, i.e., the Higher Education Commission and provincial governments.
It is true that appointment of VCs has so far been generally erratic and personalised. Some of the incumbent VCs were selected through open competition; others on the whims of authorities, a few given extensions much in advance of the end of the official term, and some are enjoying endless terms in office.
Moreover, VCs are getting different salary packages, again according to the whims of authorities. So, there are VCs and special VCs of public universities. By any standard of management, the situation is alarming and thus needs to be corrected. However, the measures approved by the Chancellors Committee are not likely to bear fruit as they are based on wrong premise.
Superficially, appointments of VCs shall be through open competition and in MP-II grade in order to ensure uniform criteria of appointments. One is tempted to mention here that a VC of the federal university (AIOU) and three VCs of Punjab (Bahawalpur, Multan, Rawalpindi) have been given much higher pay by the government than the others, whatever the decisions of the Chancellors Committee.
As for the decision to select VCs through advertisement, it should be adopted only in a case where authorities feel the need for a change; or where the incumbent expresses the desire to leave the position at the end of the term. It is logical to believe that in case a position is advertised without the incumbent’s desire to discontinue, it is a clear signal that authorities feel the need for a change.
In such circumstances the incumbent should make a graceful exit without competing again. In our system the incumbent VCs are welcome to apply for the same job again along with others. This system lacks in grace. It neither recognises the performance of the incumbent VC nor does reject him outrightly. It is time the HEC, chancellors and educational managers of provinces took immediate stock of the situation and removed anomalies in the existing policy. This will improve the selection procedure by making it less personal and more efficient.
DR NADEEM A. HUSSAIN
Lahore
HAIR’s pathetic attempt at blackmail is obviously not guided by principle but by profit. Pakistan were favourites in this match on the fateful day and to ensure they lost must have secured the substantial financial interests of some groups. Was Hair on the take all along ?
The ICC’s rush to defend him as a man under stress is not credible. What of the stress to Inzamam? Hair and the ICC must be taken to court and made to pay compensation. Our cricket board must ensure this. It is obvious that the ECB and ICC are trying to appease the PCB because they do not want to lose the massive earnings from these matches. They are pandering to our ever malleable PCB chairman who must forsake his personal protocol priority for the nation’s honour and bring a criminal to book. No matches must be played until justice is done.
ARSHAD AHMED
Karachi
INZAMAM has done at the Oval what Hassan Nasarullah did in Lebanon. On the other hand, the PCB has acted and behaved just like the Arab sheikhs and kings. The PCB was more worried about the ICC, sponsorship money and their perks just like the sheikhs are worried about their investments in the West.
Meanwhile, ordinary citizens like me want to see fair play, justice and sportsmanship in cricket. If an umpire calls your boys ‘cheats’, then it is better to forfeit the match and come out victorious in a 3-0 loss. That the PCB hierarchy couldn’t understand this simple concept amazes me.
ZULQARNAIN AKHTAR
Waterloo, Canada
DARRELL Hair wants the ICC to clandestinely dole out to him $500,000 and in return he will have nothing to do with umpiring. This is the essence of his email to the ICC. Prior to this, some respectable cricketers and commentators could not cease associating integrity with Darrel Hair’s name. Now we know who in fact has bought disrepute to the game of cricket. As for the ICC we will wait and see how it reacts to this piece of blackmail from one of its elite umpires.
IQBAL AHMED KHAN
Lahore
THE Darrell Hair controversy and pathetic role of the PCB management has exposed the calibre of Pakistan’s cricket managing board. The PCB is a profitable organisation with abundance of funds; hence it becomes an attractive place for those who are capable of wrangling a favourable assignment.
It was the job of cricket team manager and other officials accompanying the squad to the UK to be conversant with rules, otherwise they had no role to perform. The PCB chairman was accompanied by a large contingent, obviously at the PCB’s expense. What did they have to contribute when the team had a manager and all their coaches in attendance?
We should thank our stars that Mr Hair has made a mess of himself, otherwise our retired career diplomat tried but failed to create a bigger mess. The Pakistani nation and the PCB’s chief patron should set the PCB house in order.
GULL ZEE
Paris, France
I AM a senior citizen without any pension benefits. My son, based in Baltimore, USA, has been sending money for family maintenance through a foreign bank.
Last month when he was in Karachi for his wedding, I requested him to remit some money through the National Bank of Pakistan (where I have my PLS account for the last 20 or so years).
I was advised by the officer concerned at the NBP that money should be remitted after conversion into Pakistan rupees as the remitting bank from the US, Citibank, and the NBP do not have Pakistan rupee transferring relationship.
Accordingly, on Aug 10 the amount was converted into Pakistan rupees by Citibank, NYC, and was remitted to Citibank, KHI, which was duly received by them on Aug 12. Sunday and Monday being holidays, the relevant pay order was dispatched on Aug 15 through OCS from the Citibank, Karachi head office, to the NBP, Karachi head office.
Between Aug 15 and Aug 22, the said pay order was reported to be ‘untraceable’ by the NBP officials. On Aug 23, it was the personalized intervention of my branch manager and the regional branch chief that the pay order was traced out and finally the money was delivered on Aug 25.
I should like to ask the NBP officers at the helm of affairs a few questions. Did I make a wrong request to my son? Does it take 10 days to transfer money in the same city whereas it took only two days from the New York to Karachi? Was the swift service introduced for such delays?
NAQI MUSTAFA
Karachi
THE mayhem caused by the recent rains in Karachi, forecast in advance and nowhere near the record downpour of the past, has exposed the tall claims of the government of how Karachi was being compared favourably with Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.
That there is corruption in the government is now an accepted fact of life, however the level of corruption and mismanagement that the Sindh government exhibits should not be acceptable to the people.
The president downwards have a vested interest in claiming that all is hunky-dory, but the taxpayer who is putting up with lack of every civic facility, compounded by a horrendous law and order situation, should not remain a silent victim. If we do, then we deserve what is happening to us and no divine help will be forthcoming to alleviate our situation.
JAVED KHAN TARIN
Haripur Hazara
‘ISRAEL opposes Iran’s role in rebuilding’, read a headline in Dawn of Aug 18. For shameful brazenness, Israel’s objection to relief and rehabilitation of the hapless people of a country devastated by itself, this takes the cake.
Having attacked a relatively unarmed neighbour without a navy or air force, having flattened a staggering 15,000 ordinary, civilian homes and killed over 1,100 innocent, unsuspecting civilians in the process and wounding perhaps 20 times as many, having destroyed almost the entire civilian infrastructure of the country, including health care and communications, roads and bridges and escape routes, thus rendering relief and even emergency life-saving services inoperative, having deliberately destroyed a UN building and killed observers performing their neutral functions despite repeated assurances to the contrary, having targeted ambulances and civilians escaping with their lives, having littered the country with cluster bombs (courtesy America and crusader President Bush) of which around 10 per cent or about 10,000 ordnances are lying around in populated areas waiting to go off at the touch and kill any one within 50 feet, having done all this, Israel has seen fit to suggest who should or should not take part in the relief effort.
Those who thought shameful brazenness has its limits will need to think again.
WAJID NAEEMUDDIN
Karachi
I AM utterly dismayed at Mr M.P. Bhandara’s credence to ‘Gen Ziaul Haq as I knew him’ (Aug 17) about the late Ziaul Haq’s persona1 grace, ‘charm’ and, above all, genuine humility: the facade through which he operated the country ruthlessly for 11 long years.
In fact, the writer has tried ingeniously to pay off the obligation by absolving the tormenter of all the misdoings that are still afflicting our civil society.
Now when the world media has become so powerful, self-regulating, as well as fast, the truth cannot be concealed easily with such good-natured observations. For this reason alone, the present generation is lucky enough not to wait long for declassification of the facts.
The diversified opinions emerging in the media straightaway are enough to provide impetus and drive to historians to write objectively and dispassionately.
Thus the correct account of the 11-year-long nightmare that has left indelible marks on the psyche of the people is already part of our unforgettable national history.
MANSOOR-UL HAQ SOLANGI
Karachi
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