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.
Ending violence in South African truck industry
The horrible scenes of trucks being burnt and a truck driver burning inside a truck in Durban on the 9th of July 2020 shows that the gravity of issues in South African truck industry is reaching the stratosphere. The South African government, the owners of lorries and distribution trucks, the concerned citizens and the foreign drivers should all agree on a long-lasting peace before the violence further contaminate the economy which is already bleeding from the impact of Covid-19.
The government of South Africa should not remain silent even though the priority is preventing Covid-19. This issue is not just about foreign truck drivers pushing down wages. The ripple effects are farfetched. If the violence is not extinguished for good, the costs of insurance for transporting goods and trucks will significantly increase and this will push distribution cost to sky rocket and eventually the consumer will pay the price. The end result might trigger another wave of riots against increases of goods in shops.
The owners of these trucks should also know that they may benefit from low foreign labour in the short run but in the long run the distribution business will be riskier and the cost will dilute their profits. The grievances of the concerned South African indigenous citizens should be adequately addressed and these citizens should also be mindful that violence is not the solution but only serves to exacerbate the already fragile situation. The foreign truck drivers, who are also desperate for work, should also understand that the job will eventually become more risky than the wages to the extent that it will not be worth it.
HANDSEN CHIKOWORE
London
Asia Cup: BCCI’s influence
There were still two months in this year’s Asia Cup cricket tournament, but Asian Cricket Council with an influence of Indian Cricket Board made an early decision to cancel Asia Cup till the next year. The 15th addition of Asia Cup, which was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September, has been cancelled owing to the pandemic Covid-19.
At a time when the International Cricket is underway in England during Coronavirus, where the host England and West Indies are playing test series, besides cancellation of this year’s Asia Cup is beyond understanding. One can examine that an influence of BCCI over Asian Cricket Council is on peak, as we saw a day before ACC’s final decision of cancelling the Asia Cup 2020; it was Chairman BCCI, Sarouv Gaungly, who told the media that Asia Cup 2020 had been cancelled.
Such announcement made by the Chairman BCCI before ACC’s official decision disappointed cricket fans. I believe that it was BCCI’s involvement in Asian Cricket Council; this is why the Asia Cup was cancelled to create more financial problems for the host Pakistan and other Asian teams. The Asia Cup could have been played by December this year on neutral venues. An early decision to cancel this year’s Asian Cricket event will also affect the future of Asia Cup tournaments.
IMTIAZ JUNEJO
Hyderabad
Pathetic Karachi roads
Through the courtesy of your newspaper, I would like to draw attention of the concerned authorities towards pathetic condition of roads in the commercial hub and city of lights, Karachi. Sir, the roads of Karachi city are badly damaged in some of the areas, trash is everywhere and the roads are bumpy.
For the last few months, the roads have been almost impassable in most of the areas. The surface of the roads was broken by heavy rains which have created potholes making the journey even worse and this situation is damaging the vehicles also. Accidents are also occurring, thanks to these roads. People have tried to fill up these potholes with gravel, some of which become formidable-sized puddles after rain. The situation turns horrible during the monsoon.
During rainy season, Sarjani Town, Nazimabad, N.Nazimabad, Saddar, Water Pump and Liaquatabad Roads often get inundated, much to disappointment of commuters. It’s a dire need to repair the roads. I would like to request the authorities to kindly take some action immediately as it is already too late. At least, we the citizens should have basic facilities as we are the tax payers also.
WAJIHA RIZVI
Karachi
Why not learning places?
There is no doubt that world has been suffering from a deadly Coronavirus which has caused a huge number of problems and worldwide economic losses. Apart, the innocent students have suffered from it and lost a lot of things in their educational career because every learning institution has remained closed for almost four months.
With the passage of time, there remained no lockdown but still schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions are closed. Really, if companies, festivals, bazaars can be opened and there can be walking, having fun, partying, going to work, then why can’t places of learning be opened?
Everyone knows that reading is very important and stopping reading is very harmful whether it is four days or six months. We, the students, face many shortcomings, but we can not do so about our studies, no matter how great the compulsions are. Therefore, the government should allow us to start our educational journey again by opening schools and other educational institutions.
Really, this is a huge loss of our education career because for four months 99% of us even didn’t open a book. I request the authorities concerned to look into the issue with thoughtfulness.
PARVEZ MOULA BAKHSH
Malir, Karachi
