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.
Fate of 2005 earthquake victims
Even after passage of 15 years those who lost their kith and kin and houses in the October 8, 2005 earthquake still wait for promised relief. As usual a high-profile Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) was created on October 24, 2005, with high administrative cost. It goes to the credit of foreign donor agencies and friendly countries that came forward to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of this natural disaster that they accomplished their task.
It is unfortunate that projects and relief that was to be provided to the victims by ERRA has not materialized. For the past few years, victims of this tragedy have been protesting in Azad Kashmir on 8 October. The objective of organizations like ERRA is not to provide jobs for retired or serving servants of the state, but to focus on relief with minimal administrative cost.
It adds salt to injury that former ERRA executives were given expensive SUVs and vehicles, but the objective of relief work was not accomplished. Foreign organizations involved in providing relief to victims of the 2005 Azad Kashmir and KPK earthquake performed their assigned task with minimum expenditure on living and administration, while the same austerity measures were not adopted by our own people. A few within ERRA administration also availed the practice and abuses such as getting vehicles on discounted price etc.
State-funded organizations for providing relief to citizens should employ professionals qualified in relief instead of bureaucrats who seem to be immune to the concept of austerity and commitment expected from those who voluntarily offer their help with bare minimum financial impact.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Investment in healthcare
It is quite satisfactory to see that the public and private sectors are making collective efforts to support the healthcare sector in Pakistan. A few days back, I read a news item about the UK financing the production of breathing devices in Pakistan through Karandaaz partnership with Meezan Bank. In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, such initiatives are a ray of hope; indigenous production and development of ventilators and other respiratory support devices will be a great healthcare revolution in Pakistan.
It will not just help Corona patients and with other lung diseases in their speedy recovery but will also alleviate our dependency on other countries for life saving devices which is a highly positive development. To meet the financing gap in the medical supplies and equipment manufacturing sector in Pakistan, the State Bank of Pakistan has also expanded the scope of the Refinance Facility to Combat Covid-19 (RFCC) to manufacturing sector producing medical equipment and accessories.
With more than 300,000 cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan and well over 25.6 million globally, the demand for breathing devices and ventilators has grown exponentially. This pioneering capacity enhancement by a local engineering company “Alsons”, as they have started producing breathing devices will help Pakistan meet its domestic demand for critical medical equipment and will also open an avenue for exports in a highly lucrative international market.
SADIA ALI
Rawalpindi
Global initiatives
It is pathetic that some people in urban areas are still living in overcrowded, unsuitable homes and some are completely homelessness. In Kenya, people live in slums. Kibera is Nairobi’s biggest and most notorious slum, burrowed in the heart of the city, with the river Kibera flowing or rather stagnating through it. Over the years, it has seen its fair share of development interventions, but little seems to have done much to address these deep-seated challenges its inhabitant’s face.
Other countries still face challenges of homelessness particularly poor countries. Overcrowding causes many problems. Poor air and water quality, insufficient water availability, waste-disposal problems, and high energy consumption are exacerbated by the increasing population density and demands of urban environments. Strong city planning will be essential in managing these and other difficulties as the world’s urban areas swell. There should be a global initiative aimed at eradicated homelessness and overcrowding across the globe.
HANDSEN CHIKOWORE
London
Welcome decision
Chief selector-cum-head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has shortlisted 22 players for One Day International (ODI) plus the same number of players for Twenty20 (T20) international series against Zimbabwe in Oct-Nov this year. The National T20 Cup and the Zimbabwe matches would surely be helpful to take out the best talent for the later on series of News Zealand plus the two mega events which include T20 World Cup and T20 Asia Cup in the upcoming year.
The domestic players have to show some extraordinary performances throughout the domestic league and the coming series to make their place in the national team. I believe the platform which is being given to youngsters would show a positive result in international cricket. The decision of selecting some talented youths for the mega T20 World Cup is an appreciable one. The new comers play in the modern style in the shortest format of the game. We have been playing for long with senior players who are yet to change their way of playing which is needed indeed in T20 cricket.
HAMMAL NAEEM
Turbat
Still, more on the ground
Still, the newsflashes of COVID-19 have been sweeping across the world. First up, there have been many more sad stories of the people who have lost their loved ones and family members to this virus disease. What in the world has COVID-19 been doing up till now? What more could be done to avert the current crisis? How much more precautionary measures should have been taken then? These are all the serious questions now.
Right now countries have a lot more to be executed on the ground. Layoffs have been going on the world over, affecting the industrial workers. Farming crisis due to COVID-19 is yet another topic to be seriously looked into. Already having been prone to weather vagaries like droughts, climate change, the world farming scenario should be researched at length. Asian region in particular has been the huge hub of farming activities and exclusive conferences can be called for to take care of the Asian farming sector.
Helping the needy is something greatly noble. Because of COVID-19 imbroglio, the world community is in dire need of help. Tech giants like Microsoft had been my inspiration and great people like Bill Gates had instilled confidence in me, all along/through my college life way back in the late 1990s in my native places like Tuticorin, Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
World-famous philanthropists like Bill Gates, Tech giants like Google and world bodies like WHO should start building up makeshift and make-up arrangements to safely pull the whole world out of the current crisis giving everything they can towards a medically proven COVID-19 vaccine and as part of stimulus package to various industrial sectors. Almost three months short of 2021, the international community is looking forward to a new COVID-free world around by then with more serious stringent measures on the ground.
P SENTHIL S DURAI
Mumbai
Private schools are earning
There are numerous local schools in all localities which are earning from not only the high fee but also from the tick-shops where from they sell students’ courses with copies. Requirement of copies with school name monogrammed is mandatory; other copies are not allowed to be used. It is a great way of earning. Monogrammed copies with courses are only available in their own institutions shops and not in other shops. High tuition fee, generator fee, other parties or events’ fee are charged, but the primary or elementary level students are paying about Rs.700 whereas the teacher salaries range between 5000 and 10,000.
Being a teacher, I want to request our Education Minister, Shafqat Mahmood, that he must take this issue into task to play his role; students’ courses must not be allowed to sell in private schools the way they sell by charging their own taxes. Additionally, qualified teachers must be remunerated for their work-done that are exercised to institutions’ fill. Pakistan is already floating up to inflation; if it goes same, then it will be the great humiliation of education system.
MUHAMMAD SIKANDAR
Sukkur
