Why is the general public being inconvenienced in the name of security?
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to a new item in your newspaper’s Islamabad edition of March 29, on the running of the shuttle bus service in the Diplomatic Enclave for visa applicants. In the first instance, it should not be the monopoly of a single person to run such a service. Security-cleared rent-a-car companies should also be allowed to ply on this route since there will be takers for this more comfortable and secure proposition. Why is the general public being inconvenienced in the name of security?
Another point to be noted is that the acceptance of visa applications is assigned to two courier companies and they are charging as much as Rs2,500 for a single application. Here too, because they have a kind of a monopoly, they are able to charge so much. Many of them do not provide adequate facilities or shelter for visa applicants, keeping in mind the weather. Why cannot the embassies outsource this to IATA-approved travel agents?
MK Sufi
Islamabad Citizens’ Committee
Published in The Express Tribune, April 03rd, 2011.
