A recent World Bank study has warned that tourism in Pakistan’s ecologically-fragile areas has significantly increased the stress on the environment. As these areas become more and more polluted, the surreal and enchanting glory of nature is slowly being diminished and destroyed. As a result, the natural habitat of the diverse species of animals, birds and marine life present in the county may become endangered, or even worse, be driven to the brink of extinction. What sets Pakistan apart from other tourist countries is the “spellbinding grandeur and sheer simplicity” that nature presents, almost elevating it to a spiritual level. However, the rich mountain landscape, the scintillating glaciers and the exquisite valleys are being marred with filth. The mountain areas in particular have witnessed sudden spikes in the quantity and quantity of waste generated during tourist season — which is mostly plastic or solid waste. This glaring revelation points to the lack of recycling and disposal system in these areas. It is astounding that the concerned authorities have overlooked the most important factor that helps sustain the tourism industry.
While a simple and efficient waste disposal system can help fix half of the problem, the other half of lies in trying to figure out the most sustainable method of disposal. In this regard, solid waste can be either be used as fertilisers in the agriculture sector or brunt to produce electricity in these areas. Plastic waste, on the other hand, will pose a huge problem as most of it isn’t biodegradable and cannot be simply dumped in landfills — since it takes anywhere between 20 to 500 years for it to decompose. For this, the government needs to restrict the use of plastic and provide other suitable alternatives.
Such solutions have multifarious benefits. They will not only help in developing local industries, protect tourism, and generate foreign exchange, but also aid in the fight against the all-encompassing problem of climate change and global warning.
Long wait for elderly
In recent years, the Sindh Assembly and the provincial government’s performance in legislation is both good and bad: good as a large number of laws have been enacted, but bad when seen in the context of their enforcement. Like many other laws, the Senior Citizens Welfare Act had been passed in 2014, but it has not been implemented despite the passage of seven years. The law entitled elderly persons to get 25% concession on healthcare, including purchase of medicines, travel, entertainment and other services in the province. The elderly were to be issued Azadi Cards to facilitate them to obtain the rebate. The government says it has to seek the help of NADRA before the issuance of the Azadi Cards, and it is this process that has delayed implementation of the scheme.
This argument is anything but unconvincing considering that the scheme has not moved beyond the paper stage in seven long years. The prolonged delay is quite disheartening. This is in sharp contrast to the immediate implementation of laws that increase the emoluments and perks of the legislators themselves. The law had given hopes to the elderly that it would ease their difficulties in these times of galloping inflation and when their income had shrunk considerably. Now they feel disappointed as the promise of relief does not seem to be fulfilled anytime soon.
Ruling parties find it easy to pass legislation after legislation in quick succession and forget to implement them, but they ignore the fact that this might erode the people’s trust in the legislature. Seeing the trend, one could expect that laws might be repealed as easily as they are enacted. Laws supposed to benefit the vulnerable sections are passed with much fanfare and they are received with great enthusiasm. There the matter ends. The Sehat Sahulat Card has been introduced in most districts of other provinces, but the government’s health insurance scheme has so far been launched in only seven districts of Sindh.
Digitising parliament
President Arif Alvi has asked all stakeholders to complete the digitisation of parliamentary operations by January 2023. This came at a meeting of the President’s Initiative for Cyber Efficient Parliament (PICEP) earlier this week. The process was undertaken in November last year, and was initially supposed to be completed by June 2021. The president must be credited for the initiative, which will hopefully be followed through to completion. The project will allow the state to expand into e-governance and achieve greater transparency and accessibility, as has been the aim by governments worldwide.
As per Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Syed Aminul Haque, the process will allow both houses to present motions through a computerised system. The PICEP will serve to make our legislation process more democratic by enabling remote voting on legislations even if parliamentarians are not physically present in the parliament house. Undoubtedly, our parliamentarians are notorious for ratifying legislation by their respective parties on days when their fellow party members are in the majority. Another obvious advantage would be for the government to become more accessible to citizens. With 64% of its population below the age of 30, the move is bound to create a more informed citizenry as the youth is more likely to access parliamentary proceedings online. Moreover, while the current Senate and National Assembly websites have been regularly updated, PICEP may fill in the gaps such as providing attendance and voting records of parliamentarians, translations of proceedings into regional languages, and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
However, it must be noted that governments worldwide have opted to incorporate e-governance slowly to minimise the threat this poses to cyber-security. With hacking and cyber-risks growing more sophisticated by the day, our information ministry must ensure that not only is the digitisation secure, but that it has relevant experts on board to deal with any malfunctions and cyberattacks, like the Estonian cyberattack of 2005, and that parliamentarians are also well-trained to use the latest technology.
