
KARACHI:
Almost every state funded project has suffered because of gross irregularities and politicised appointments of cronies, who lack the necessary technical expertise and experience, to head mega projects. The new Islamabad airport is one such project which was announced in 2005 by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The foundation stone was laid on 7 April, 2007 by the then President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. After numerous delays and cost escalations, the project was made partially operational in May 2018.
The new airport was designed for simultaneous arrivals and departures from two parallel runways. Unfortunately, because of the incompetence of those within the CAA and Project Directors appointed by them, basic design flaws have been noticed. One such example is that the minimum distance between two parallel runways was less than the mandatory spacing for safe operation, as per ICAO regulations. In order to prevent such instances from occurring in the future, which in turn risk the lives of people traveling, the recommendations of acclaimed engineers in the country must be followed before the project is carried out. They should be brought in for consultation as well as implementation.
Pakistan’s aviation industry faces a crisis because of the incompetence of the mediocrity placed at the helm. One fails to understand why retired or serving officials from civil and uniformed services should be appointed to head these projects when there is no dearth of highly qualified engineers in this country.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2021.
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