The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
The building of motorways is always a source of pride for our PM. First it was the Lahore-Islamabad motorway, then the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway. Now it is the Khunjerab to Karachi motorway.
We are also being promised bullet trains, which will travel at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour and will get us from Karachi to Lahore within the space of a day.
If this is not enough, Gwadar is pegged to become a free port and a massive power project is planned for Gadani. It is a welcome sign that the prime minister is looking at massive investments in strife-ridden Balochistan province as well.
But is this what we need? Agreed that the power plant is necessary for overcoming the power crisis in the country, but why did we unilaterally call off the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project? That would have made more economic sense. As a sweetener, the World Bank is offering us money to import power from India instead. Have we sold ourselves short?
Motorways are a great way to travel but even today the bulk of our transport vehicles ply on the vastly improved GT Road in Punjab all the way to KP. This suggests that a better idea would be to spend money on building our existing road infrastructure at a fraction of the cost it will take us to make the motorway.
And why shouldn’t we be investing in our railways? But not in bullet trains. We need to invest in locomotives as well as freight and passenger trains. Go to the train station and you will see locomotives that were gifted to us by the US thirty years ago in active use. Why can we not improve our train system so that we don’t have to rely on old locomotives that break down all the time. Why is there an obsession in fixing PIA only. Why not get Pakistan Railways to run on time and provide quality service.
What is it that I want? As a Pakistani, I want to see streets that are paved and not pot-holed. Gutters that don’t overflow. Street and traffic lights that work. Public utilities that deliver. And emergency services that respond round the clock.
I want to see a police force that is accountable and somewhat efficient. A local government system in place, not having to beg the provincial government. Maybe a Mayor who has control of a city’s police force. Why doesn’t any leader fight for that? I recall how one time Karachi Mayor Abdus Sattar Afghani, who belonged to the Jamaat-e-Islami, fought for rights to funds from the motor vehicle tax pool, only at the fag end of his rule. Why not before?
Today in a city as large as Karachi, there is no emergency services number to call. Almost all the Madadgar “15” vehicles have been commandeered for VIP duty. The bomb disposal squad works out of a squalid one room office with a rickety van at their disposal.
Instead of having great visions, why don’t we have small ones instead? Mian sahib should wake up one day and think about farm to market roads not motorways. Instead of a free port in Gwadar, maybe he should think about bringing water to that forgotten city.
Unfortunately, improvements such as those mentioned do not attract headlines. Also, there is little money to be made if the government orders annual clearing of a city’s storm water drains – even though such a move will reduce flooding that we see in our cities which in turn results in numerous deaths.
As we drown every third year in floods, maybe the time has come to think and plan on dams and water reservoirs. We are still working on a water system developed by the colonial administration nearly hundred years ago. Their high profile projects hold us in good stead even today because those were meant to help the people not the rulers.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2013.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS (11)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1731570357-0/elon-musk-(1)1731570357-0-165x106.webp "article")
-(1)1717678110-0/Kendrick-(1)-(1)1717678110-0-165x106.webp "article")
Pakistan's priority should be several dams, schools with teachers, hospitals with doctors and medicines, clean drinking water, water barrages, embankments etc. The motorway and bullet train can wait. After all we have the GT road. Let law and order be restored, so that vehicles, buses and trucks can ply without being robbed by dacoits. Before embarking upon motorways the tax net should be increased. Till that time these dream projects can wait.
@Alann: ".....Here’s some advice: Stop turning everything into a comparison with ......." . A piece of advice in return, would you like to apply the same rules on your own self. A mirror can be handy.
Abid P. Khan: "Aircraft carriers are built to become a leader of what? Perhaps promote Ahimsa?"
Here's some advice: Stop turning everything into a comparison with India. It is time to change - I know its a horrible thought, but thats what you got to do, to be able to improve Pakistan. If Pakistan can start eliminating all the "bad talibanis" which are killing its people and also the "good talibanis" which attack its neighbour countries, Pakistan will start being a progressive nation. Before you think of what India is doing and comparing yourself accordingly, you need to start thinking of fixing the minor problems in your own country first. India has went miles ahead of Pakistan in every field, and if you think your country is a match for India, first start truly believing in it and start building your country. Or better stop pointing at India and accept you have been a failure all along, as you won't ever grow if you keep looking at what Indians do but don't care to improve upon yourself.
@Leela: "When the citizenry have more grandiose plans of being the leader of...." . Aircraft carriers are built to become a leader of what? Perhaps promote Ahimsa?
@sabi: Bullet train is not a luxury but is acknowledgment of people’s rights to live at par with international standards. but how you are going to run bullet train ? First you need to generate enough electricity . Somewhere along the time Pakistan has lost its priorities. First it needs basic industries like power , steel , petroleum , mining etc . Construct multi purpose dams, So that instead of accusing India of releasing or not releasing water , Pakistan can store water for itself . Instead of bullet train that runs at 120 km/hr even an ordinary train can run at that speed . Politicians in Pakistan are selling dreams which are impossible to come true. ...E.T , There is nothing controversial or against Pakistan in my comment . I guess it may be published
@Bushra: You said it so beautifully. Truth is that the people of sub-continent are not problem solvers. Instead they have learned to adjust with problems. This has gone into their genes. Rest assured, we will be talking of these problems year after year for next 1000 years. We lack quality human beings. There is problem in the way we bring up our children. Let us accept, we are highly selfish society and contribute very little for the common wellbeing. Here in US I see tiny tots going around streets and picking up trash as part of their school home work. Elderly people pick up trash from the sides of Motorways. No one spits on roads. On the contrary, look at the sideways of streets in sub-continent. Less said the better. We have failed at parenting level.
Author: Building of motorways,national highways and other mega projects of national interests is the job of federal government,police,market roads, education,health,sanitation facilities etc is the job of provinces center has nothing big to do with that.Without building modern infrastructure rapid industrialization would be a distant dream and speedy industrialization is the key to progress I therefore totally agree with the vision of NS. Bullet train is not a luxury but is acknowledgment of people's rights to live at par with international standards.
You've got bullets and you've got a couple trains. Combine the two and you've got bullet trains.
But, you forgt, that above all of these priorities, Pakistanis sould be concerned about the core issue of Kahmir, Palestine, Myanmar, Syria and other places where atrocities are being committed against Muslims, even though most Pakistanis cannot find on a map if their life depended on it.
This article must be a lie, as most Pakistanis will swear that the roads in Pakistan are spotless, no one sleeps on the roads, there aren't teeming poor people like in neighboring India etc.
For a country with huge technical and manufacturing prowess including nuclear weapons, sophisticated missiles and rockets, tanks, fighter aircrafts, mere locomotives should not be a problem.
When the citizenry have more grandiose plans of being the leader of the ummah/ Islamic Caliphate, the author seems to have rather low expectations!
Spot on!!
Guess what I want as a Pakistani?
I want some peace of mind. I want to drive myself to office without the fear of being followed, mugged, abducted or finding myself stuck in the middle of a chaotic situation. I want to talk about religion without fearing that I will be killed for taking sides with an Ahmadi or a Shia Muslim. I want to travel to the North without having the fear of been shot dead in cold blood. I want to talk to my foreign friends without being probed about security situation in Pakistan. I want to walk on the streets of Lahore, enjoy the beautiful breeze at Karachi seashore, jog at a roadside in Islamabad and take my family to a lovely trip to the deserts in Sindh. I want to explore Balochistan and not be afraid of getting shot for being an educated girl.
Take away the streets, take all the lights and take all my money. Just let me breath in fresh air and let my brain free from the deadly fears that have unconsciously settled in my existence. Take all I have and give back my pride - I want to be proud of being a Pakistani!