Dawn Editorial 14 December 2019

Dam fund again

FROM the remarks made by a few judges of the Supreme Court, it seems that interest in the dam fund might be revived all over again.
The fund was originally set up in July 2018, ostensibly to collect funds for the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams, and the website of the Supreme Court specifically solicited donations in the name of the construction of these reservoirs. A few months later, the newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan added his voice to the call for donations, especially urging overseas Pakistanis to contribute to the effort to raise funds via voluntary donations for an infrastructure building enterprise that was slated to cost upward of Rs1.4tr for the Diamer-Bhasha dam alone.
To date, a little over Rs11bn has been collected, mostly from domestic contributions, and many of those made by deducting the pay of salaried people, including within the armed forces. Since the retirement of chief justice Saqib Nisar, who had launched the venture with much zeal, all parties lost interest in the fund and donations petered out to nearly zero.
In its detailed judgement on the dam fund case, the court had specifically written that the funds would not be used for any purpose other than paying for the construction of the dam — something that is expected to take a decade, if indeed the venture ever reaches that stage. So the National Bank made arrangements for placement of the funds in treasury bills until then.
Read: Supreme Court directs SBP to ‘remove obstacles’ so overseas Pakistanis can contribute to dam fund
Now the court wants to know why the donations have halted, and particularly why overseas Pakistanis have not deposited larger sums. State Bank data shows that of the Rs11.75bn collected thus far, only Rs1.7bn appear to be from overseas Pakistanis. It seems that the impression, going by the court’s questions, is that overseas Pakistanis are facing hurdles in transferring funds into the accounts where donations can be accepted. So the State Bank has been ordered to take appropriate action to remove these hurdles, whatever they may be.
It needs to be repeated once again that the entire project is not only a futile attempt, but completely off the mark when it comes to the question of infrastructure finance.
The dam fund is now a confused and haphazard exercise that has done more harm than good by absorbing too much of the state’s attention as well as giving the people the questionable impression that the government will use their donations for funding the dams.
It is high time to wrap the whole thing up, and consider placing the funds collected thus far into the construction of small dams in Balochistan instead. That way at least the spirit under which the donations were sought, and commitments made, can be lived up to. It is evident that the venture should never have been launched in the first place.

 
 

Sindh IGP’s letter

ONE major obstacle standing in the way of police reform in Pakistan is political interference in the affairs of the force. It is routine for political bosses to remove or transfer ‘undesirable’ officers, who may not be toeing the party line, and replace them with more pliant policemen. Though this may serve the petty short-term interests of the political elite, it has a negative impact on effective policing, and demoralises those in the force who are determined to carry out their duties as responsible public servants. Sindh has in the past witnessed tussles between the provincial administration and the police’s top brass; the case of former IG A.D. Khowaja is a high-profile example of this, becoming a cause célèbre with civil society. The matter went to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the Sindh government’s appeal against the provincial high court’s order that allowed Mr Khowaja to continue as IGP. In recent days, it appears as if another confrontation may be brewing in Sindh, pitting the current IG Kaleem Imam against the provincial administration. In a letter to the Sindh chief secretary, as reported in this paper on Thursday, Mr Imam urged the provincial government to “respect the spirit of the judgements … and let this office play its due role in … transfer and postings of police officers serving in the province”.
The background to the letter is to be found in some recent shuffling of officers in Karachi and Shikarpur by the Sindh administration, apparently without consulting the provincial police chief. In the letter, Mr Imam said he learnt of the transfers through “media reports” and that such “sudden and unplanned” moves demoralised the police force and undermined the command of the IG. The IG has a point here. While the chief minister is the highest elected office holder in the province and needs to ensure that checks and balances are maintained in the departments under him, abrupt transfers and postings are, indeed, counterproductive and need to be avoided. Moreover, going over the head of the province’s top police official sends the wrong message and harms departmental discipline. Officers must be given security of tenure and the assurance that there will be no political meddling in their work. If any complaints arise against the conduct of officers, these should be handled as per standard operating procedures. The Sindh government needs to establish a more professional working relationship with the provincial police hierarchy and avoid micromanagement.

 
 

Chill in global warming

GLOBALLY, they are many who warm up to leaders who vow to guard their flock against ‘outside influences’, while for others it is getting increasingly difficult to fight back against the xenophobic values being promoted by these ultra-conservative politicians. Unfortunately, right-wing tendencies are on the rise across the world, not least in Donald Trump’s America where the president’s aversion to a collective response to global challenges is well-known. Lately, he has ducked a supposed missile from the Time magazine which has dared to mock the president of the United States by declaring a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist named Greta Thunberg as its Person of the Year. Criticising the magazine’s choice, Mr Trump tweeted, “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill”, leading to an indirect though humorous riposte from Greta who simply changed her Twitter bio to accommodate Mr Trump’s concerns. The US president has previously attacked the young activist as well — when she spoke in anger at the UN, lambasting the international community for not doing enough to address the effects of climate change.
It was inevitable that President Trump would pour cold water on the celebrations in the award winner’s camp, leaving many journalists to write caustic editorial notes — for perhaps that is the only resistance they can put up against polluters who are responsible for changing climate patterns across the globe. There are also many who, with some justification, oppose the idea of students taking a break from their education — as Greta Thunberg is doing — in order to raise awareness about a problem that ought to be handled jointly by all governments. After all, that is the more sensible strategy for saving the planet. Had Mr Trump been guided by saner counsel, he could perhaps have seen the larger picture of the dangers the world faces as temperatures grow hotter and the snows melt. Sadly, he chose the wrong battle.

 
 
 

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