Fix this if you can

The scams running within Pakistan’s airports are accredited to the corrupt and inept people who operate them.

Some time back, PM Nawaz Sharif asked then Secretary Civil Aviation Nargis Sethi to report on the state of our airports. Ms Sethi, otherwise a sensible bureaucrat, restricted her work to a “surprise visit” to Islamabad airport where she asked that more counters be opened for PIA passengers. That was it.

Pakistan’s airports are a mess. Not because of the crumbling infrastructure. But because of the corrupt and inept people who run them. Arriving at an airport in Pakistan usually is a trying experience. Possibly the only exception is Lahore Airport, where the efforts of Shahbaz Sharif seem to have borne limited fruit. And of course, the VIP “Rawal Lounge” in Rawalpindi Airport (also referred to as the Islamabad airport) where our powerful eat and relax for free at the expense of the others who are treated like cattle in the main building.

Let us start with money. Our airport levies are one of the highest in the region. Advertising spreads like a cancer. But where is this money going?  Possibly on non-development expenditure. Hiring more duds.

It is not spent where it is needed most. The avio-bridge that shunts passengers into the main airport building from aircraft is a prime example. The carpet is dirty, paint is peeling and the air conditioner doesn’t work. One gets a blast of heat and fumes on disembarkation.

Thanks to the ASF, the high and mighty have minions waiting at the gate of the bridge. These people are then facilitated. No lines at the immigration counters. People jump, walk across, and in some cases are facilitated for a fee. The complaint “hotline” that is widely advertised never works. I once tried calling to report how dubious men were being ferreted by FIA men. The PISCES system has been rendered inoperative so we don’t know who is coming in or leaving.

Speaking of scams, one can see them everywhere. From the FIA to the customs to the ASF. The “health” counter is another scam. Men wait here for people coming from Africa and then ask them for money to let them through. The luggage conveyor belts are mostly broken. They groan into operation almost an hour after the plane has landed. In the meantime, CAA-appointed baggage staff have pilfered through the luggage. Most luggage that comes in from the US is not locked due to their security restrictions. It is opened at Pakistani airports by CAA and ASF staff where items are conveniently stolen before the suitcases come onto the conveyor belts.

There is no one to listen to complaints. As you wait for your luggage, customs sipahis come and ask whether you have anything to clear and that they will do it for a fee. The sharks don’t end there. The Anti-Narcotics Force staff also take you aside and try to harass you into paying them something. I thought transiting through Nigerian airports was bad. Pakistan is worse. One Sri Lankan friend of mine only got through after he said he was a journalist. Otherwise, they had demanded money in dollars from him.

Consider this: the CAA employs over a hundred people on “vigilance” duty at Karachi airport. And yet no one stops people from spitting or smoking wherever they want. No one catches the thieves and pickpockets who operate with ease. No one controls the crowds outside. Passengers are pushed and blocked as they try to exit the customs hall.

The rent-a-car business is also another scam. They are supposed to charge by the kilometer. Instead they have imposed a minimum charge, regardless of kilometers. Complaints to the CAA have not made any difference. The rent a car drivers charge extra for air-conditioning despite the fact that this is supposed to be included in the charges.

And the icing on the top is the police. The traffic police which is deputed to clear the drop and pick lanes is nowhere to be seen. Instead they prefer to stand at the entrance and exit points of the airport where they stop cars at will and threaten to challan them knowing full well that the passenger will yield as he has a flight to catch.

When we land, one should not say welcome to Pakistan. Better to say, welcome to Scamistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2014.

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