A news item some years ago disclosed that our public representatives had expressed serious misgivings about the service provided by the ‘national’ airline, and requested that they be allowed to use the private airlines instead for their paid travel. This is a sad commentary on the sorry state to which the national airline – once the pride of the nation – has been reduced, mainly due to a bumbling set of senior executives. Pakistan International Airlines is not the only victim of the ham-handed approach of the powers- that- be towards the public sector assets of this blessed land. Instances abound. Other public sector enterprises like the Railways and Pakistan Steel have fared even worse. If one were to look for a plausible explanation for such failures one could perhaps draw a parallel with the history and demise of the dinosaurs of yore. A look over the shoulder may be in order. When the devastating earthquake struck in 2005, the authorities were caught totally unawares. There existed no mechanism and/or machinery that could be called to service at short notice. Not even a plan that could be brought out from the archives to serve as a guideline. No wonder, then, that it was the civil society that was the first to spring into action. It was individuals rather than organizations that were the first on the scenes of devastation.
The same scenario is being repeated after each time the floods strike. One would have expected that some lessons would have been learnt after each natural disaster. But no such luck! Invariably, the only organized effort visible is the one by the Armed Forces. All others run around like headless chickens treading on each others’ toes. The affected persons are, meanwhile, left at the mercy of the elements. The question that presents itself begging for an answer is: why do we not learn from our experience and why should we always start from square one?
Appeals for funds are invariably launched left, right and center. The question remains, why don’t we have seed money stashed away in a safe account that can be utilized for urgent relief measures for emergencies before funds come pouring in? This brings us to the dubious role of the many dinosaurs in our midst that may be in imminent danger of collapsing under their own weight. The NDMA (of the Attabad lake fiasco fame) for one! Wasn’t it the responsibility of this murky organization to immediately spring into action and commence and coordinate relief efforts after the floods struck? Yet one hears very little of its involvement except for a loaded statement every once in a while.
Harking back to the earthquake disaster, one finds that after sufficient funds had been collected from local and foreign donors, a brand new dinosaur by the name of ERRA emerged out of nowhere. It immediately took charge of the finances and went about its business much like a top heavy multinational organization. This is hardly the occasion to sit on judgment, but the claim of ERRA of having constructed six hundred thousand ‘earthquake proof’ private residences in the earthquake hit areas in a short span of time remains open to scrutiny. The non-transparent way in which bulk of the donations collected for relief and rehabilitation after each natural disaster are utilized may well inhibit many international donors from coming forward in the crises. Local contributions pour in, though, despite serious doubts about the utilization of the funds. One can only thank providence that another dinosaur named Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Agency or some such did not emerge once the moneys were in.
While on the subject, it may not be out of place to mention some other dinosaurs that are living off the fat of the land. Among these must be counted all the Regulatory Authorities that have sprouted like poisonous mushrooms after the rains. It may be asked, with good reason, why the need is felt for these regulatory authorities when the bureaucratic machinery is mandated to perform these very duties. If the setting up of these Regulatory Authorities amounted to a vote of no-confidence in the efficiency of the bureaucratic machinery, then why not dispense with the latter? Keeping both at the cost of the poor tax-payer is nothing but an overkill, to say the least. There are several other dinosaurs making merry at great cost to the national kitty. The HEC is one such that has been doled out funds by the sack-full on the basis of a hare-brained scheme to produce a handful of PhDs on the wooly premises that this would take the country into the promised land of developed states. What about the several NGO’s being run by mysterious begumat mostly funded through questionable means by shady organisations both local and foreign?
It may not be out of place to mention here the unbalanced development of the dinosaurs of yore that ultimately led to their downfall. What appears to have happened is that the development of the brains of these gigantic creatures failed to keep up with their ever expanding girth. The lack of proportion this unbalanced development created in the species contributed, among other factors, to their downfall and ultimate extinction. Can the country afford to keep on fattening these dinosaurs at the cost of basic national development schemes is the moot question? A decision would have to be taken sooner or later. The sooner the better! If the nation ever manages to overcome the calamities brought on by natural disasters, due attention can be diverted to the efficacy, or otherwise, of the dinosaurs in our midst. Or must one wait for the advent of another meteor from outer space to obliterate this crop of dinosaurs? The choice is ours to make.
— The writer is a former Ambassador and former Assistant Secretary General of OIC.
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