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OCTOBER
2007
ISSUES:
Changes
in values, lifestyles
By
Arif Hasan
CHANGES
in the social values and lifestyles of the elite and middle classes in
Karachi are all too visible. However, the changes in the social values
and lifestyles of the lower and lower middle classes are hidden from
view. The most visible expression of the change that has taken place in
these classes is the emergence of young couples holding hands or sitting
with their arms around each other on the benches in the parks in the
city.
This behaviour is surprisingly tolerated by the other visitors (even
bearded ones) to the parks and has led in some cases to the segregation
of spaces among families, male visitors and couples. As one waiter at
Hill Park put it, “There is nothing you can do about this. You cannot
quarrel with the zamana.”
In an attempt to understand this phenomenon, I have over the last five
years interviewed or had a questionnaire filled by 100 young couples in
parks and at the Sea View beach. They all belong to the lower and lower
middle classes. Of these, 28 couples were married. Of the 100 women, 32
wore the hijab and 68 wore a black or grey ‘aba’. Only 18 couples
were interested in politics and/or read political news in the
newspapers. Eighty-three were interested in migrating to another country
towards which seven married couples and 16 unmarried men had taken some
steps.
The reasons for wanting to migrate were in order of importance; one,
there was no justice in Pakistan; two, they would never be able to own a
place to live in; three, married couples were afraid that they would not
be able to educate their children properly; four, there was no
affordable entertainment and recreation; five, there were too many
family disputes often related to behaviour patterns of the young which
they considered hypocritical; and six, they lived, worked and travelled
in terrible environmental conditions.
These couples certainly do not constitute the majority of young people
in lower and lower middle-income settlements in Karachi but they are
definitely trendsetters as their numbers are rapidly increasing.
What
has brought about this very visible change apart from TV and the “trickle
down” of the lifestyles of the more affluent sections of society? I
feel that the most important reason is that for the first time in our
history we have a very large number of unmarried female adolescents. In
the 1981 census, 37.54 per cent women and 13.14 per cent men in the age
group of 15 to 24 were married. If we project the 1998 census figures to
2007 then less than 20 per cent of women and six per cent of men in this
age group are married today.
Also, the low-income settlements that I knew in the 1970s and 1980s have
changed. Then they were purely working class settlements and women did
not work. Today, there are doctors, engineers, formal sector
entrepreneurs, persons employed in the corporate and IT sectors, bank
managers, college and school teachers (the majority of them women),
living in these settlements. This is a sea change.
In order to know more I discussed the changes that I have noticed with
older residents and the more upwardly mobile community members of
low-income settlements. They agreed that the major change that has taken
place is the break-up of the extended or joint family and this has
played a key role in the change of values and behaviour patterns. Among
the reasons given for the break-up of the joint family is that
previously there was one earning member and others were dependents.
Today, there are many earning members and hence the patriarchal
structure cannot survive.
Money from abroad was also cited as a reason for the break-up of the
family since it created jealousies and the nuclear family of the person
sending it broke away from the rest. In addition, working women have
also adversely affected the joint family system for it has led to
quarrels and disputes. My friend Mansoor Raza’s survey of people
sleeping in the streets revealed that the majority of them consisted of
young men who had run away from home and old men who had been abandoned
by their families.
People are not conscious of the changes that have taken place and as a
result are confused. For instance, one person reported how, after much
heartburning and violence, he agreed to let his daughter marry out of
his caste and how terrified he was of what the reaction of his clan
would be. However, there was no reaction except for a few elders being
sarcastic — his peers did not particularly care. “The traditions are
gone but we do not know it for out of fear we do not discuss these
things,” was his conclusion.
Older residents agreed that an increasing number of youth are “undisciplined”
and violent gangs are emerging in their localities. One of the reasons
given for this is that parents have become more liberal because of a “change
in the times”. Other reasons given are unemployment and the terrible
state of public education and its uselessness. An increasing number of
young people are doing their Matric and Intermediate and after that they
are not willing to do manual labour.
Meanwhile, jobs that are available in the market require technical
skills and more and more of them require formal “sanads” and not
just experience with an ustad. These jobs are mostly in the textile,
medical and construction industry. However, there are no educational
centres where one can be trained for these jobs. Those that do exist are
too few and far too expensive. For example, there is a great demand for
male nurses but there are only five institutions that one can apply to.
Admission fee to these institutions is between Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 and
the monthly fee is between Rs2,000-3,000.
The rising gap between poverty and wealth is a major factor in the
social and political alienation of the young in the lower and lower
middle income groups as aspirations increase but resources and
opportunities do not. The solution lies in the development of good
public sector educational institutions equal to those of the elite and
in the teaching of English. For example, it was mentioned in one of the
discussions that at a private school a normal female teacher earns about
Rs1,500 to Rs3,000 a month whereas someone who is good in English can
get up to Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 a month.
Private schools are expensive and often a family has to choose which of
its children it will send to them. In the absence of an affordable and
useful public school education system more and more students are being
sent to madressahs. “At least they learn how to read and write there
and without reading and writing there is no future today.” “In a
government school they learn nothing but corruption from their teachers.”
“These are not schools, they resemble aasar-i-qadeema. No water, no
toilets, no furniture, broken floors and collapsing roofs.” These were
some of the comments that were made during the discussions.
I conclude from the discussions I had that we will have a very different
society in Karachi in the next decade. It also points to the need for a
major reform in the education and social sectors and in state culture
along with corresponding changes in city planning priorities. If that
does not happen, political and social alienation will increase and so
will the chances of conflict and further fragmentation.
(By
Arif Hasan, Daily Dawn, 24/09/2007)
People
in 4 towns panic over house demolition for Gujjar Nullah expansion
Thousands of people residing along the Gujjar Nullah that passes through
four towns are worried about the proposed plan of the City District
Government Karachi (CDGK) to displace them in the name of development.
The initiatives taken by CDGK to mark the houses which will be
demolished has created panic among residents as not a single house owner
was given prior notice. The city government had started the work to
expand the 13-km-long Gujjar Nullah starting from New Karachi Town and
ending in Liaquatabad Town after touching Gulberg and North Nazimabad
Town on the city nazim’s directives. They have also planned to
construct 30-feet-wide roads on both sides of Gujjar Nullah after
demolishing several houses there.
The worst affected localities would be Talib Colony, Liaquatabad No. 3
and 4, Khamosh Colony, Hassan Colony, Wahid Colony, Punjab Colony,
Mujahid Colony, some portion of F.C. Area, Peoples’ Colony and North
Nazimabad Nos. 2 and 4 which are densely populated areas.
Some of the localities are around 60 years old. People migrated there
from different parts of India and set up makeshift huts that later
developed into concrete multi-storey houses. Presently all localities
have developed and all civic facilities such as water, sewerage, roads,
telephone, gas and others have been provided as most of the houses in
these areas have lease documents.
During a survey in different localities under the new proposed project
of Gujjar Nullah, people showed concern over the CDGK’s attitude of
displacing them from their birthplace. “It is very strange that CDGK
has marked a large number of areas for demolition just to deepen the
existing drain of Gujjar Nullah when this demolition could be easily
avoided,” said Mateen, a 65-year-old resident of Talib Colony. He said
that CDGK officials had marked his two houses far away from the Gujjar
Nullah without any notice. “Officials who were randomly marking houses
under police security did not bother to give any reasons to residents,”
he said.
Wajahat Ali, another resident, said the sudden move had created panic
among residents. He wondered what would happen to those whose only
shelter was there. “We have visited the area union council (UC) nazim
but he refused to explain any reservations showed by residents on
various occasions during the last five days,” he added.
Kamran Rizvi, the owner of a medical store that was also marked said his
shop was the only source of income for his six-member family. He also
mentioned that although his shop and other business establishments in
the main market were more than 100-feet away from the Gujjar Nullah, the
entire row of houses would still be demolished.
“UC 3 Nazim Imran Yousuf Zai has no idea of what is going on in his
union council which shows that CDGK is keeping people in the dark for
its own benefits,” he said.
Another resident said that the entire locality consisted of two-, three-
and four-storey houses where people of the salaried class were living.
“It is tragic how people constructed these houses after saving each
and every penny to provide shelter for their family,” he said. “The
government should consider the problem faced by the residents,” he
said. People also showed their reservations about rehabilitating several
people that was witnessed during the resettlement of the Lyari
Expressway Project.
The Gujjar Nullah was once around 100-feet-wide but it was encroached
upon by people residing on both sides over the course of the last three
decades. Presently, at some points, the sewerage water overflows during
the monsoons.
“The city government will develop Gujjar Nullah as a 60-feet-wide
drain and two 30-feet-wide roads on both sides will be constructed to
provide alternate link between four major towns,” said Works and
Services Department’s Additional District Officer Sajid Usmani on
Tuesday.
CDGK allocated Rs 2 billion for this project which and the amount will
be increased on demand. The marking was completed in Liaquatabad Town
while it will take place within a week in other areas. “We have also
started a door-to-door physical survey in Liaquatabad to count the
number of houses which will be demolished,” he said. Notices to house
owners would be issued after the completion of the survey.
“Earlier the city government had decided to compensate the people who
have leased houses but now the people living illegally along the Gujjar
Nullah will also be compensated. A plot on the same measurement and
cheques of Rs 80,000 to Rs 100,000 will be given to people residing in
the leased house while others will only either get a plot or a
compensation cheque,” he said.
Liaquatabad Town Nazim Osama Qadri told Daily Times that work in his
township had begun since it was the starting point for the flow to be
disposed. “The revenue department officials have started the survey
and will submit a report within the next couple of weeks,” he said,
while answering the question about the number of houses to be demolished
in his town. He added that all those people whose houses will be
demolished should be served according to CDGK’s compensation policy.
Orangi Pilot Project Director Perween Rahman said she was also
concerned. She said that there was no need to shift so many people for
one project if the government had designed a good plan. “We have
arranged meetings with CDGK officials who are working on this project
and during the meeting it was revealed that they had not taken any
proper technical details in the project design which shows that they are
hatching a conspiracy to grab land for their own purposes,” she said.
She mentioned that Gujjar Nullah was one of the major sewerage and rain
disposal drains as it was also a part of the Karachi Water and Sewerage
Board’s mega project Sewerage 3 (S3). “It is not the fault of the
low-income group that there were hurdles in the way of a smooth flow of
sewerage and drains by setting up illegal establishments. The upper
class had also congested three main disposal points in DHA, Korangi
Creek and KPT jurisdiction which is why Clifton , I. I. Chundrigar Road
and its adjacent areas were inundated,” she said. Rahman also
suggested that CDGK conduct a public hearing on this issue and tell the
people that they will be resettled through a proper planning.
(Daily
Times, 16/09/2007)
Military
capital threatens city in a big way
While
the role of “military capital” is increasing in the development of
Karachi, because the organisations led by the Army do not coordinate
with city plans, this phenomenon would ultimately cast a negative impact
on the 15-million-strong megalopolis, believes eminent architect and
town planner Arif Hasan.
There is no doubt that the army is involved in development in a big way
and that the involvement is increasing day by day, he said while talking
to The News. However, he added, since there are no unified plans and
they are not congruous with city planning by and large, this involvement
will ultimately bring chaos and destruction in the city.
The most recent example of the lack of coordination in urban development
is the collapse of a bridge on the Rs3.5-billion Northern Bypass, which
was inaugurated by President Pervez Musharraf on August 6, 2007, only to
collapse less than a month later on Sept 1. While the issue has now died
down after making a lot of noise in the media, there are still questions
that remain unaddressed — especially the role of military capital in
the tragedy.
The City District Government Nazim Mustafa Kamal made it clear that he
should not be blamed for the catastrophe that claimed nine lives. The
project was completed by National Logistic Cell (NLC) and National
Highway Authority, both of which are organisations manned by Army
personnel, without any bidding in the initial process.
“Since 1958, there has been no system of accountability in public
development and the system is based on coercion and manipulation,”
Hasan said.
Prominent defence analyst and author of the book Military Inc., Ayesha
Siddiqa cautioned recently in an article: “As Pakistan grapples with
the issue of how to deal with a strong military, the reality which needs
to be appreciated is that the institution of the armed forces today is
much stronger than at any time in the country’s 60-year history. Its
political strength today is a combination of its political and economic
power.”
Hasan said the history between August 14, 1947, when Pakistan came into
being and October 1958, when a military dictator General Ayub Khan took
power through a coup, was “very ugly but it was democratic.”
Another prominent architect, Arif Belgaumi, said that the collapse of
Northern Bypass was a result of a flawed design and an absence of a
regulatory structure. Also lacking, he told The News, were “checks and
balances to ensure that such design flaws or possible construction
shortcomings are rectified without exposing the public to any risk”
“I understand that problems were detected in the bridge design but
decisions were taken to open the bridge to traffic after only minor
reinforcement,” he said.
Reportedly, communications minister Shamim Siddiqui confirmed after the
collapse of the flyover that, about a year ago, the ministry had found
flaws in the design of the bridge and recommended its reconstruction,
but the NLC-hired foreign consultants, following their recommendations,
only put in steel sheets.
“The contractor claimed that the bridge’s stability had been
increased ten-fold,” the minister told a news conference.
The highhandedness and lack of coordination between military-run
organisations and civic agencies is not confined to the Northern Bypass.
The financial hub of Pakistan has lately witnessed a spate of
announcements of several mega projects such as Sugarland City, Bundal
Islands, etc, where city plans have not been given any consideration and
which are likely to bring miseries to the vast majority of the people
living in the city.
“They have made a colony for Karachi Port Trust at Mai Kolachi and
destroyed mangroves. They are slowly encroaching on the water outfalls
because they are prime lands but give the impression that such decisions
are being taken just to remove Katchi Abadis,” Hasan said.
“Urban development such as Sugarland City has to be based on some
principles of sustainability (which also includes equity and justice).
It is based on four principles: (1) Planning should respect the ecology
of the areas in which the urban centres are located. (2) Land use should
be determined on the basis of social and environmental considerations
and not on the basis of land value or potential land value alone. (3)
Planning should give priority to the needs of the majority population
which, in the case of Asia, are low and lower-middle income communities,
hawkers, informal businesses, pedestrians and commuters. And (4)
Planning must respect and promote the tangible and intangible cultural
heritage of the communities that live in the city,” Hasan said.
(By
Shahid Husain, The News, 23/09/2007)
KDA
library turns to junkyard
A more than 20 year old library of the now-defunct Karachi Development
Authority (KDA), containing rare books and survey maps of Karachi, has
been closed down and it now wears the look of a junkyard.
The library located on the second floor of Civic Center was full of rare
charts, maps, drawings, survey reports and master plan reports, but
these rare manuscripts are now covered with thick layers of dust.
During a visit to the place this scribe found that all the library
books, magazines, rare photographs and old pictures of Karachi have been
abandoned just like trash under darkness.
One of the employees present at the library, said: “We are making a
digital library”.
On a query, he said: “As you know it is a practice in Pakistan that
all old things are taken as scrap and these books are now just a trash”.
He, however, added that they were in the process of making a digital
library.
It is worth mentioning that if at all the proposed digital library is
established, it will not be having any kind of old record and rare
manuscripts.
The rare pictures of old city were about camel riders, “buggies” and
trams, which would no more be available in the digital library. It is
worth mentioning that a large number of students from NED and Sir Syed
engineering universities had benefited from this library. This historic
library had been containing a record of various development schemes as
the now-defunct KDA had launched various low-cost housing schemes in the
city.
When contacted, a retired officer of KDA apprised that this Master Plan
Library came into being when Civic Center was established in 1984-85,
adding, this library possessed master plans of all major cities of the
world while satellite maps were imported from France at that time.
He said a number of engineers used to consult this library whenever any
residential scheme was launched or some big project of KDA was
announced. This library happened to be a centre of reference for a
number of students interested in history and civil engineering.
It may be pointed that the defunct KMC also had a rare library at Frere
Hall, which was not only closed but the place has been declared
prohibited area for common citizens.
City government has chalked out various programmes to build parks but
there happens to be no specific plan to establish libraries and promote
literary activities in the megapolis.
(By
Fasahat Mohiuddin, The News, 21/09/2007)
Cost
of corruption and inefficiency
A
general definition of corruption is the use of public office for private
gain. This includes bribery and extortion, fraud and embezzlement.
Inefficiency on the other hand refers to the lack of expertise and
knowledge for the job assigned to a person or an organisation, lack of
skill, lack of interest and motivation and lack of foresightedness.
Corruption, in most of the developing countries is growing both
vertically and horizontally in a dangerous manner. Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and India are already among the top corrupt countries in the world. This
multifaceted monster is the epicentre of all the malaise and agonies
being experienced by the billions of people in the third world
countries.
Along with her rapid economic growth, Pakistan is experiencing more than
proportional growth in corruption. Violence, bomb explosions,
kidnapping, assault, murder, rape, karo kari, misuse of power,
lawlessness, dominancy of the elites, and many more crimes are going on
as the by-products of rampant corruption. People are getting restless
and frightened as the crime ratio is increasing, even after more than 60
years of independence.
The impacts of the wide-spread corruption are increasingly being felt
throughout the society. There are direct and indirect impacts of
corruption. It is when the people are facing frequent breakdown of
electricity supply, when road condition becomes tattered and when
sewerage lines are over flowing, one can easily point the finger to the
concerned authority and corrupt practices, resulting in numerous
difficulties to the people.
The past few years have seen growing public recognition and discussion
of this problem, including in addresses to the World Bank-IMF Annual
Meetings by the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn and the IMF
Managing Director, Michel Camdessus. Lengthy discussions in the 1996 and
1997 editions of the World Development Report, internal task forces on
corruption in the World Bank and the Committee, the increasing influence
of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Transparency International,
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developments’ (OECD)
resulted in a landmark resolution to criminalise bribery and all corrupt
practices. Equally telling is the willingness of many public officials
in more than 150 high-ranking public officials and key members of civil
society from more than 60 developing countries, the respondents ranked
public sector corruption as the most severe impediment to development
and growth in their countries.
The incidence of corruption varies enormously among different societies,
ranging from rare to widespread to systemic. If it is rare, it may be
relatively easy to detect, punish, and isolate. Once it becomes
systemic, however, the likelihood of detection and punishment decreases,
and incentives are created for corruption to increase further. This
pattern of an initially rising, but then falling, cost of engaging in
corrupt acts can lead to multiple equilibriums: one holding in a society
relatively free of corruption, the other holding in a society where
corruption is endemic. Moving from the latter toward the former is
likely to be harder than controlling corruption when it has become
prevalent, but not yet systemic. Where there is systemic corruption, the
institutions, rules, and norms of behaviour have already been adapted to
a corrupt modus operandi, with bureaucrats and other agents often
following the predatory examples of, or even taking instructions from,
their principals in the political arena.
The economic impact of corruption has grown significantly in the recent
years. It leads, in general, to the following conclusions: bribery is
widespread, but there are significant variations across and within
regions. For example, survey responses suggest that Botswana and Chile
have less bribery than many fully industrialised countries. Bribery
raises transaction costs and uncertainty in an economy. Bribery usually
leads to inefficient economic outcomes. It impedes long-term foreign and
domestic investment, misallocates talent to rent-seeking activities, and
distorts sectoral priorities and technology choices (for example,
creating incentives to contract for large defence projects rather than
rural health clinics specialising in preventive care). It pushes firms
underground (outside the formal sector), undercuts the state’s ability
to raise revenues, and leads to ever-higher tax rates being levied on
fewer and fewer taxpayers. This in turn, reduces the state’s ability
to provide essential public goods, including the rule on law. A vicious
circle of increasing corruption and underground economic activity can
result unbearable cost to national exchequer affecting welfare
activities. Bribery is unfair as it imposes a regressive tax that falls
particularly heavily on trade and service activities undertaken by small
enterprise. Corruption also undermines the state’s legitimacy.
A perfect and glaring example of rampant corruption and inefficiency can
be detected even by a layman in Pakistan in almost all sectors and
sub-sectors or in activities where public money is involved. Dilapidated
condition of infrastructure facilities and public services in rural and
urban areas are the example of devastating impact of corruption. The
major cities of Pakistan are the epicenters of corruption and
negligence. For example, the largest industrial and commercial city of
Pakistan, Karachi, which is not only a mini Pakistan but also the
economic lifeline of the country, symbolises all type of corruption and
inefficiency. With more than 15 million souls Karachi has been
encountering unimaginable hardship and agony. A simple shower of
rainfall converts most roads and street in Karachi into pools of
standing water. Any minor incident can cause traffic jam for hours.
Electricity breakdown is so frequent and prolonged for hours that people
have stopped complaining against it. Now the latest tragedy, an
important bridge collapses in 25 days since its inauguration. All these
are the manifestation of inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption. The
major power project in Karachi KESC is plugged with inefficiency and
fraud. Its electricity generation and distribution system are not only
below demand, there is a huge factor of power theft. This power theft
happens in multiple ways causing unprecedented loss to the economy and
suffering to the citizens. The start of summer in 2007 saw many
instances of power riots in Karachi. The situation in 2007 has because
so bad that on March 10, 2007 KESC had to run a public assurance to go
through just one day without power loss. Electricity supply shortage is
seriously affecting productivity of vital industries and increasing the
cost of doing business.
National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water and Power disclosed
that officers of WAPDA and electric supply companies were causing loss
of Rs50bn and to hide their wrong-doings, they were putting burden on
national exchequer by showing line losses of the same amount annually.
The WAPDA and electric supply company officers misuse their powers and
then show line losses causing burden of Rs50bn on the government
annually.
According to one estimate the economic cost of road accidents and
injuries alone is estimated to be around Rs100bn in Pakistan. However,
the loss is more than just numbers, as road traffic injuries not only
push many families more deeply into poverty by loss of their
breadwinners but the crashes also inflict tremendous and continuous
burden on the disabled victims and their families along with the health
care system. Corruption is also alarming in other sectors especially
belonging to provincial and local governments and autonomous bodies. If
there is a device that could accurately calculated the cost of
corruption and inefficiency in Pakistan it must be worth of billions of
rupees per annum.
Corruption is so deep-rooted and so powerful now that even a positive
venture toward its eradication may trigger shivering among the powerless
reformists. Corruption and inefficiency, however, can not be allowed to
prosper further otherwise the prosperity of the nation will be at stack.
To start a renaissance against corruption we must establish the rule of
law first, build strong institutional set-up, promote and strengthen the
role of the existing institutions. Create self-confidence among the
masses by removing their fear and uncertainty, and insecurity.
Governments should implement rules and regulations showing no mercy to
the culprits whether big or small. And on top of the list, accelerate
grass-root level mass education ring in a new revolution for the human
sector development.
(By
M. Osman Ghanni, The News 24/09/2007)
Pedestrians
involved in over 40pc of road accidents
Pedestrians are involved in more than 40 per cent of the eleven hundred
road accidents that take place every year in the city while in 30 per
cent of these accidents the pedestrians are reported to be killed. In
order to stop these accidents, the city government would finish 23
pedestrian black spots currently present in the city with the help of
traffic police.
According to a media release on Thursday, this was decided in a meeting
held in connection with preparations to control traffic jams, as per the
orders of the honourable Supreme Court. DCO Karachi, Javed Hanif Khan,
addressed the meeting and said that there is an immediate need to ensure
preparations for traffic engineering and reinforcement. He said that in
order to overcome this issue, the city government and traffic police
would conduct a survey and, keeping in view the standards of traffic
engineering, reinforcement and solutions would be sought. He directed to
immediately make preparations to finish these 23 pedestrians’ black
spots.
It was also decided in the meeting that the places from where
encroachments have been removed should be monitored continuously in
order to make sure that they do not re-emerge. The DCO showed his
satisfaction over the performance of traffic police and the volunteers
for regulating traffic efficiently and said that at certain traffic
signals the flow of traffic is very high therefore the signalisation
should be moderated accordingly so that this pressure can be reduced.
DIG traffic, EDO transport, EDO works and services, Director General
mass transit and others were also present in the meeting.
(The
News, 28/09/2007)
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