Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
PIA 777 impounded
at KL
A PIA B777 has been impounded on court orders before departure at KL, because of default in lease payments. Any experienced professional CFO and CEO of a commercial airline operating on international sectors should have been aware of repercussions involved in international default and instead of contesting the matter in court should have managed by making partial payments. A default in lease can trigger a default with international lenders and any qualified aviation industry executive with experience is required to manage through skilful negotiations.
The aviation industry is facing a crisis and as long as COVID-19 pandemic is not curtailed, airlines have embarked on cutting operating costs. These are not times to embark on increasing the fleet and I fail to understand the commercial justification on leasing more aircraft. Funds should be utilized to pay lease instalments for aircraft already in use, while making efforts to return utilized leased aircraft.PIA has been restrained from using two B777 aircraft leased from Dublin-based AerCap in 2015, which sold this portfolio to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd in 2018. The aircraft with manufacturer serial numbers 32716 and 32717 should never have been sent on international flights.
What more will it take for the Federal Government to understand that those at the helm in the Aviation Ministry, CAA Pakistan and PIA lack the capacity to handle the affairs of an airline, already in crisis? The EASA issue was mishandled by everybody involved. The Minister for Aviation must have been given this list of over 800 pilots employed by Pakistani and foreign airlines by CAA alone, which has this information. What were the motives, remains to be investigated? The Secretary Aviation should have advised the Minister of the repercussions of making such an irresponsible statement in the National Assembly.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Corruption in AGP Office
Reportedly, the Federal Cabinet has expressed its ‘no confidence’ in the office of Auditor General of Pakistan ( AGP) with the PM saying that corruption amounting to over Rs.180 billion had been unearthed in the institution. PM Imran Khan was annoyed with the performance of AGP and said that audit paras of those departments are removed which bribe audit officers while paras of those are carried forward which fail to appease the officials. He was of the view that it made audit paras only for news headlines and not for improvement in the working of relevant departments.
I fully endorse the views of the Premier. In fact, AGP office is fully responsible for all corrupt practices, irregularities and pilferage in government organizations. It patronizes corrupt mafia and only targets those who refuse to grease their palms. They are unnecessarily dragged in paras to destroy their career. Audit is annually carried out in all ministries, government departments but no major cases of corruption, misuse of authority and embezzlement are pointed out obviously after taking huge bribe.
Only minor things are converted in to audit paras which are subsequently settled after taking illegal gratification otherwise they linger on for years. While on audit to the departments, lodging, boarding, transportation, gifts and other expenses are generally borne by the departments to properly take care of the audit teams to avoid their annoyance. I suggest that where NAB references are filed it should be inquired whether AGP had ever brought out these irregularities while carrying out audit. If not, then concerned audit officers may also be held responsible and be nominated in the references as co- accused on the charge of concealing the crime. The assets of all AGP officers from BPS 16 to above may also be verified to catch hold of all black sheep and to purge AGP from white collar criminals.
TARIQ MAJEED ADV
Hyd Sindh
Ten natural remedies
Depression can make you feel worthless. With treatment and sometimes medication, there is a lot you can do on your own to fight it. Changing the way you behave – your physical activity, lifestyle and way of thinking – these are all forms of natural stress treatment. These tips can help you feel better like Routine, Set Goals, Exercise, Eat Healthy, Get Enough Sleep, Take Responsibilities, Challenge Negative Thoughts, See Your Doctor Before Using Supplements, Do Something New, Try Fun.
As much as it may sound, you should work on having fun. List the things you once enjoyed, even if they sound like work. Keep going to the movies. Keep going out with friends for dinner. When you are stressed, you can lose the ability to enjoy life, says Cook. You need to re-learn how to do it. In time, the good things will come to you again.
KASHIF KHAN
Islamabad
Neglected Kashmore
With the population of 1.2 million, and let’s not forget, the city located on the pointy end of Sindh province and sandwiched between three provinces, Kashmore is, unfortunately, doesn’t fall in the provision of debate on the floor of Sindh Assembly.
Most of the populace of Sindh is unaware of the existence of city name Kashmore. According to Pakistan Human Development Report 2017, the city is one of the least developed cities of Sindh. The pitfalls include worst life standard ratio, human security, gender inequality, meagre health facilities, low immunization rate, poor education and critical environment. The city also lacks a proper urban planning. The roads are succumbed to almost daily life incidents. The sanitation system paints a perilous image of the city’s poor management authority.
The people’ local representatives are in a state of denial. The literacy rate of Kashmore is 47.2%, but the city has no public library. Students are impelled to travel and accommodate in other developed cities to pursue their goals. Hospitals lack proper facilities. Conceived women end up dying in hospitals due to shortage of blood banks. Women from rural areas are ignored for treatment because of their socio-economic status. Without payoff, the hospital management doesn’t provide beds. The roads present a sorry state of the city. The sewage water flows on the roads and lanes causing diarrhoea, typhoid and malaria.
CALIMULLAH
Kashmore
