Committee on PIA
Sir,
Apropos Senator Sherry Rehman’s encouraging scathing criticism about the growing culture of indiscipline amidst reports of overlooking accusations of sexual harassment and in her words a sickening history of being a “sexual predator” by the pilot involved in the incident with the Chinese passenger sitting in the cockpit in violation of PIA, CAA and ICAO rules and recommendations.
It shocks taxpayers as financial bailouts and loans on sovereign guarantees keep this loss-making national airline afloat, while a culture of gross indiscipline erodes it. This is the same airline that was turned around by an airline management free of political interference when former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed Rafique Saigol and Nur Khan. They developed human resources through recruitment on merit, with zero tolerance for financial and administrative indiscipline and ensured that there was no conflict of interest, abuse of powers or nepotism by those who held executive assignments.
Senator Sherry Rehman should review the role of the PPP during 2008-2013 for being instrumental in recruiting the highest number of fake degree holders and her party’s choice of cronies appointed as MD in suppressing allegations of sexual harassment by a female pilot.
Successive federal governments, including the Musharraf junta and their poor choice of executives at the helm of PIA and CAA, are responsible for the ills that afflict this airline, which has been reduced to a white elephant.
PIA still has enough professionally qualified employees who have been relegated to the background or sent on mandatory early retirement while semi-literate rogues hold executive assignments, indulge in massive corruption, form cartels to fleece Umrah pilgrims and pilfer billions in dubious deals.
Can anybody in PIA justify why the practice of appointing a Chartered Accountant to serve as a Chief Internal Auditor has been done away with? Instead of upgrading educational and professional qualifications for ab-initio recruitment, they have been either frozen or even downgraded so that they are appointing an intermediate pass as the director of Human Resources or an O’Level graduate as MD, ignoring their history of gross indiscipline which merited their sacking. Commercial airlines in the US and Europe hire pilots with ALTP and a minimum of 13 years of schooling which is equivalent to our graduation, while PIA hires CPL and intermediate graduates including those with fake degrees, grievous psychological and criminal records.
Aneela Chandio,
Sukkur.
Shocking CSS exam
Sir,
I write this for the Central Superior Services (CSS) exam authorities. For many years it was a high quality entry point to a career in public administration. But it has hit a new low. According to the Federal Public Services Commission in 2016 just 2 percent of candidates passed the examination. Apart from that, 9,643 candidates appeared for the written exam and the only 202 individuals had enough marks to qualify for the interview. There are many problems with the CSS examination itself with reports surfacing of a number of remarkable flaws and mistakes in the 2015 and 2016 exams. The Government of Pakistan must do something.
Adnan Dost,
Turbat.
KU’s Anum Zehra
Sir,
The students of the University Of Karachi are facing many problems. At least 25,000 students attend classes in its morning and evening programs, which makes it one of the largest public sector universities in the country. Many of those students, especially young women, take public transport from far-flung parts of the city to reach campus.
A pedestrian bridge was built in front of the KU Silver Jubilee Gate after the death of KU student Anum Zehra, 25, a student of BA Hons Third Year Evening Programme in the Economics Department, was crushed to death by a dumper at the Silver Jubilee Gate on January 24, 2009. The lives of thousands of students have been saved since. It has been named after her.
One problem has been solved but KU students face many others such as mobile phone snatchings, harassment, stalking and risk of kidnapping and rape at that pedestrian bridge. We don’t feel safe.
Young women prefer crossing the road by themselves rather than using that pedestrian bridge. But the road crossing is risky and unsafe for them as well. The university authorities have not realised this is an issue. The Rangers should act too.
Faryal Yaqoob Mughal,
Karachi.
Punjab Food Authority
Sir,
It is unfortunate that the Punjab Food Authority has become a lucrative business. A few days back, it advertised posts for assistant food officers but did not specify a certain criteria. Many of the candidates with a background in biotechnology and microbiology successfully passed the test through the NTS. But when they were called for an interview, they were informed that their qualifications did not match the criteria.
I was shocked at how easily they turned many of the successful candidates. Why did they deem us eligible for the test if the credentials did not match the so-called criteria? Secondly, why did they give us hope by sending out interview letters? Most of the candidates had to travel across the Punjab to reach the interviews.
I have so much disgust for this corruption, which seriously need to be addressed through transparency and merit. The NTS test system only works to mint money. The authorities must do something.
Afia Batool,
Microbiologist,
Layyah.
Streetlights at KU
Sir,
I want to draw the attention of the authorities to the lack of streetlights in Karachi university. I am a student with the evening batch and I have a lot of problems getting from one department to another. Some lights exist but they are not switched on. At night, the place looks haunted. We pay double the fees compared to the morning batch.
Student of UoK,
Karachi.
Budget 2017-18
Sir,
The fiscal year budget proposal for the year 2017-18 was presented by the finance minister, without going into the details of the numbers. One aspect is crystal clear; the budget has not provided any relief to the poor of the country. As usual the minimum wage has been increased by Rs1,000, that is from Rs14,000 to Rs15,000 but it is up to the readers of these columns to imagine how with the skyrocketing prices of daily commodities one can make both ends meet.
It was expected that the government at the end of its tenure would seriously think of improving the standard of living of the average person in the country, the real custodians and voters. Unfortunately, successive governments have miserably failed to address their problems.
In October 2016,the FBR disclosed that nearly 2m rich people pay no taxes. The irony is that we proudly let the people know that our filthy rich are exempted. They are an elite class for whom the law of the country doesn’t exist or doesn’t apply.
Instead of taxing the rich or expanding the tax net, the government failed to provide the poor with any substantial relief. The ruling family with an industrial empire all over the country definitely would not wish to share its profits with its workers by increasing the minimum wage to a reasonable amount. In all industrial units, the major work force is on the minimum wage.
Not only this, the pensions of government servants have been increased but our policymakers never think of the EOBI pensioners who get only Rs5,250 a month, which is practically a joke. These EOBI pensioners waste their lives serving their masters in huge industrial groups, but upon attaining old age they are shown the door, with no benefits whatsoever from their honorable masters. On the other hand, any employee retiring from a multinational company owned by “non Muslims” gets suitable benefits for his or her old age to spend a comfortable life.
Tax is the main source of any government. Is it not surprising that our successive governments have failed to apprehend tax thieves?
I request the finance minister to reconsider the minimum wage and those of EOBI pensioners. Until the living standards of the poor are not improved, this country will never be known as developed and civilized. The government should make sure that our private sector is forced to increase the minimum wage from the date it has been recommended by the financial bill.
Aamir Aqil,
Lahore.
Shahrah-e-Faisal
Sir,
Shahrah-e-Faisal Road in Karachi has been full of construction for over a month. This makes travelling on it really hard. Half of the road is always closed off, making it a one-way road for a very busy route. Taking the back roads and having to go around the blocks is frustrating and takes a lot of time.
Construction leaves many people with no clear signs of what direction to go. With traffic directions unclear there have been accidents and chaos. The management of the construction is disorganized.
Before starting a project, the management should make sure it is safely cordoned off and doesn’t take up too much space. A safe alternate route must be marked out with the signs and clear pathways.
Areeba Atiq,
Karachi.
Nandipur fiasco
Sir,
The Nandipur Power Project is symptomatic of the cancer of corruption and huge kickbacks that afflict every project funded by taxpayers of this country. It would only mislead the people of this country if the failure of the power generation projects, railway engines and locomotives or security surveillance systems etc imported from China were blamed on China’s lack of technology and expertise. China has emerged as a leading economic power based on its own technological expertise. It has surplus electric energy and is amongst those countries with a reliable and functional railway transportation system.
Till 1990, the Pakistan Railways was exporting freight wagons and coaches to Sri Lanka and was meeting all local requirements from its carriage factory in Islamabad. Instead of augmenting this facility, the lure of kickbacks motivated Gen. Ashraf Qazi, the minister for railways, to shut it down at Moghalpura and instead import them through Dong Fang Trading House and Mishan Locomotives.
Our main railway tracks have a capability of taking 22 tons per axle while the branch lines can sustain 16.5 tons per axle. Orders were placed initially for 64 and later another 75 locomotives with incompatible Group 1 locomotives with axle loads of 23 tons and Group 3 locomotives with axle loads of 19.3 tons per axle. This caused the breakdown in the railways, a rise in accidents, higher costs of maintenance and higher fuel consumption because of lesser hauling power than specifications listed jointly by the manufacturer and Pakistan Railways. There has been a change in both the government and the management of Pakistan Railways but what has been constant is a powerful kickback mafia which prevails despite accidents resulting in the loss of life.
Nandipur, which was based on natural gas, was started in 2008 by China Dong Fang Electric Corporation at an initial estimated cost of Rs23 billion and it was expected to be completed in April 2011 to produce 425MW. This escalated to Rs57.38 billion due to delays during the PPP government with machinery stuck at the Karachi Port for two years. In June 2013, after the payment of $40 million in compensation to Dong Fang, work resumed in July 2013 and the PM inaugurated the first turbine on 31 May 2014 for it to be operational for five days. This is complete mismanagement by the incompetent unqualified and corrupt cronies of the government which has led to a never-ending cost of escalation for Nandipur.
Malik Tariq Ali,
Lahore.
Pakistani cricket
Sir,
The ignominious defeat against India has put nation in a state of melancholy and raised many questions about our team management and overall cricket structure. From the beginning, it was a one-sided match. A lack of confidence and fatigued gestures made this clear. Pakistan did not stand a chance against the so-called world-class bowling. It shows the team does not have capability to tackle pressure and score more runs. Although, the team seem to be quite balanced the result was not up to expectations. Not a single right decision was made during the match. Everything went wrong and the fielding was horrible. At least, the team should have played till the end. We must come out of the thinking that prevailed in the 1990s when a 200 score was enough to be defended. The rules have changed, cricket has become advanced. It is more or less a mind game. The team that was once the best now barely manages to secure a position in the top eight.
The main reason for this fiasco is poor planning, nepotism and corruption. Emerging players are not provided the resources of international cricket such as professional coaches for fitness and physical training.
Unlike Pakistan, the Indian cricket team revamped itself over the years and has now became the world’s best ODI team. They have invested a lot in experts and have set up state-of-the-art academies. There is a dire need to rehabilitate domestic cricket and ensure transparency in order to produce quality players. Senior cricketers must be engaged to teach players about modern cricket and hunt for talent at the district level.
Haider Ali,
Lahore.
Company Bagh
Sir,
What has happened to the centuries old Company Bagh of Abbottabad is unconscionable. Almost all the trees have been chopped down at this historic site. According to Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mehr, it was here that Allama Iqbal sat and wrote his famous poem “Abr” in praise of the famous Sarban mountain of Abbottabad. Allama sahib’s poem also mentions those Cypress “Saroo” trees and birds singing in their branches, which are no more. Our hearts bleed and we mourn the slow death of an Abbottabad which was once an unforgettable experience for poets, artists, Commanders in Chief, heads of states and thousands of nature-loving souls.
The plans to destroy its original design are complete. A few years ago, Rs50 lakhs were spent on this public garden and with the hard work of the gardeners who cleaned it up. With their hard work, it began to flourish, grew impossibly lush and green. Elderly residents and visiting or traveling families would come here to relax. But the engineer and town municipal officer have siphoned off funds and dumped the debris from the demolished historic bar room in the garden. You can see it in these pictures. They did this so the government would have to pay Rs82 lakhs for new staffers and grass, which they would then dip into.
If no one speaks up, the old terraces and slopes will be destroyed in the Bagh. There will be waterlogging, which will lead to the deaths of the trees. The new grass won’t take root. The pedestrian traffic and rains will wash it away. From the times of the British, because of the monsoon in this area, it was declared mandatory for local grass to be used in public spaces because its roots could take it.
For weeks garbage is not lifted in Abbottabad. The municipal committee can easily buy four garbage trucks with its Rs82 lakhs. Garbage next to Mushtaq Ghani’s Kehal house rots and stinks for weeks and is then set on fire which leads to pollution. Buying garbage removal compactors and mini trucks is much more essential than destroying an already functional public park.
There was nothing wrong with the old Bagh and our poor deprived people did not need a new Company Bagh. People should protest what has been happening. Public funds are being misused and appropriated. The Company Bagh should be restored to its original glory.
Mahmood Aslam,
Abbottabad.