Tale of ingratitude: ICT needs lesson in caring for gifts

ICT negligence leaves over 30 donated tractors rusting away in the open.

ISLAMABAD:

A common practice among our government institutions is to not care for the country’s assets. Unfortunately, this practice appears to have extended to gifts and donations provided by foreign countries and donors as well.

One example comes from the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration, which has been ignoring over 30 tractors received as a gift from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) back in the 1980s. The tractors are rusting away in open areas in Tarlai and Bhara Kahu for the past two decades.

Official sources in the ICT said JICA had started a project to train local farmers for cultivating their land and donated over 30 tractors to the local administration for use in the city’s rural areas. However, the local department failed to make use of the gift, instead accruing huge losses on the machinery over time. The official added that the machinery was used just once. The project required the local government to make two small dams in the outskirts of the capital in order to facilitate farmers who would then be given access to the tractors, but due to the local government’s lax attitude, no real work was done.

The official maintained that the tractors could still be utilised, but this depends on the administration. “How can the government initiate any project and make requests to foreign donors if it has not followed up on previous ones?”, questioned an ICT officer.

A senior ICT official explained that when Islamabad was declared the capital, land in the city’s peripheral areas was designated for agriculture. However, the designation was not enforced, and an all-engulfing wave of commercialisation followed soon after. He blamed city managers’ failure to pursue the tractor project for commercialisation in rural areas.

Sources at the ICT also said that according to the rules, if the machinery is not used for a number of years, the department is bound to auction it off, but the ICT failed to do so. There is a proper procedure to auction donations in government institutions which should be followed, he remarked, adding that, “It is a national dilemma — our government does not treat donations as it should’’.

Former ICT agriculture director Rana Akbar Hayat claimed that during his tenure, he was informed that the tractors were poorly maintained, no longer usable, and needed to be auctioned.

Muhammad Idrees, a farmer in Bhara Kahu, recalled the 90’s, saying that initially, farmers were encouraged to cultivate their land and the government gave them training and tractors as incentives. He said the project was the beginning of the end, claiming it was allegedly weakened by bureaucratic meddling.

“It is sad that today, most rural areas under agro-farms schemes are being used for residential and commercial purposes,” added Idrees.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mujahid Sherdil said, “I examined the machinery and only three tractors were in good condition. They will be used for solid waste management in rural areas.”

He said that remaining tractors could not be made operational and admitted that the fault lay with his department for failing to launch the project almost 30 years back.

Islamabad Chief Commissioner Jawad Paul was not available for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2014.