GIDC ordinance withdrawal
AFTER approving the draft of the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess amendment ordinance in a cabinet meeting, then sending it to the president for signature, the prime minister decided on Monday to “take notice” of the benefit that might accrue to various large stakeholders because of the ordinance, and announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing it altogether. The whole matter now reverts back to the status quo, with the GIDC law before the courts, various stay orders in place, while farmers and power consumers continue to pay the cess which in some cases is being deposited with the government and in other cases being retained by the producers pending the court decision. In short, we now have an even bigger mess on our hands, because the government’s weakness has been exposed and those contesting the cess in the courts have smelled blood.
The reasoning behind the ordinance is sound, but the route of taking a presidential ordinance to legislate the amendments is problematic. Pragmatism suggests that it is better to break the impasse that has developed around the issue of the GIDC rather than let the issue fester in the courts. Prime Minister Imran Khan has now tasked his attorney general to “move an application for urgent hearing in the Supreme Court”. He also seeks to “inform the nation that going to the courts carries a risk” because the decision could result in no revenue collection at all (as opposed to the approximately Rs220bn the government would have collected under the deal it had offered to industry through the ordinance). Or worse, it could result in the courts giving a verdict that the cess should never have been levied in the first place and all funds collected under it must be returned. That could saddle the government with reimbursement obligations of almost Rs295bn, according to Mr Khan’s own communication.
The reminder of the risks involved in reverting to the status quo should not be directed at “the nation” since the decision has been made by the prime minister and nobody else. The risk is his to bear, not that of “the nation”. It is not clear on whose advice Mr Khan has acted in reversing his own decision, and whether adverse commentary on TV played a role in swaying his mind, but “the nation” should not be blamed for this. Leadership involves taking responsibility for one’s own decisions, and bearing their consequences. With this style of governance, vacillating and fearful, one is left wondering how the government intends to implement the “tough choices” that have to be made to successfully see the IMF programme through. We are only two months into that programme, and already significant doubts about the seriousness at play are taking root.
By ordinance alone
THE opposition has once again slammed the government over its preoccupation with ruling by ordinances. In the latest instance, the opposition members were up in arms in protest when four ordinances, promulgated by President Arif Alvi, came before the Senate on Tuesday. The controversial GIDC ordinance was not among them, but the omission did little to contain the opposition members. The treasury was severely castigated for bypassing parliament, the protest being backed by a solid argument which termed the bunch of presidential ordinances as unconstitutional. The members duly referred to Article 89 of the Constitution which says the president may promulgate an ordinance, except when the Senate or National Assembly are in session. The Article further says the ordinance shall stand repealed at the expiration of 120 days from its promulgation or, “if before the expiration of that period a resolution disapproving it is passed by the Assembly, upon the passing of that resolution”. The treasury did try to counter this latest attack in the Senate by summoning the old defence. But whereas the point about the opposition’s non-cooperation did make sense, it couldn’t quite dispel the impression that the PTI government was from the outset determined not to ‘unnecessarily’ involve the opposition lawmakers in legislation.
Governments in the past, too, were blamed for resorting to the presidential ordinance. The fundamental question in the present case, however, stems from the ruling party’s obvious contempt for the legislators who occupy the opposition benches. This message is most candidly manifest in the repeated remarks of Prime Minister Imran Khan about the ‘corrupt’ parties and politicians who, regardless of the likes and dislikes of the sitting government, have quite a heavy presence in parliament today. In the Senate in particular, the numbers prevent the PTI government from winning easy passage for any bill it might want to introduce. Hence the reliance on presidential ordinances despite that it has been generally debunked as a dubious means to run the business. The choice of the route is, sadly, hardly surprising after Mr Khan had declared as early as December 2018 — barely a few months into power — that he planned to legislate by ordinance. Entering into a ‘settlement’ with the opposition meant that corruption cases against their leaders should be closed — an option the prime minister ‘would never go for’. A return to the regular route of legislation through parliament will require a basic change in the PM’s position.
Medical waste
WHEN Karachi resident Shaneira Akram went for a morning stroll along the Clifton beach on Tuesday, she was shocked to discover large amounts of medical waste lying around on the sand.
Along with heaps of plastic bags and other garbage, the tide had brought with it several blood vials and open syringes to the shoreline.
Thanks to her efforts in raising the alarm about the potential public health catastrophe through a series of tweets and videos, the Sindh Police quickly cordoned off the area, while municipal authorities brought in heavy machinery to clean up the site.
The beach may have been cleared for now, but the larger issue of Karachi’s waste disposal and management cannot be buried so neatly.
According to a report published a day after the heavily publicised incident, the vast majority of healthcare facilities in the city by the sea still do not have the necessary equipment to safely collect and dispose of medical waste.
This is an open secret, written about countless times before: hospitals, clinics and maternity centres continue to dump toxic waste in the open, or directly into water bodies, despite being well aware of the danger such actions pose to ordinary citizens.
Of course, Karachi is not alone; healthcare facilities across the country engage in similar irresponsible practices.
A host of infectious diseases are linked to toxic medical waste, while garbage collectors and scavengers, along with those living close to medical centres, are especially threatened.
It is unknown what percentage of the waste actually goes through incinerators, how many of these are even functional, or whether healthcare practitioners are separating highly toxic and non-toxic waste at the source.
Answers to these questions are needed, and the provincial government must do more than just “write letters” to hospitals to ensure that proper procedures of waste disposal are being followed.
It is nothing short of criminal when those whose duty it is to provide healthcare to the people can so casually and callously toy with it.