When less is more
We need to invest in locomotives as well as freight and passenger trains.
The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
One is impressed by the grandiose plans our prime minister has envisaged for the country. But I am curious how the billions which will be spent in them will help us progress economically or become an Asian Tiger, as has been stated. After all, the money that will be spent will come from the national kitty and the loan that will be borrowed will be paid by our future generations.
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.
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.