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LETTERS:

Post letters to Letters to the Editor, The Daily Times, 41-N, Industrial Area, Gulberg II, Lahore, Pakistan Phone: 92-42-5878614-19; Fax: 92-42-5878620 E-mail: letters@dailytimes.com.pk
Letters may be edited for length and clarity

Qazi’s strange demands

Sir: Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal president, has not only refused to serve on the Parliamentary Committee for Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation, but also demanded “a replay of everything done so far for the rescue and relief” of the people affected by the October 8 calamity. The MMA leader also asked for dissolution of the ERRA and other bodies constituted after the tragedy and demanded that these should be reconstituted.

Opposition leaders need to realise what is obvious to the layman. Nobody can change the past. The only thing they can do is to alter the future. Their attendance at the committee meeting this week is a welcome sign. The people of Pakistan, particularly those affected by the earthquake, expect the leaders to do everything they can to mitigate their suffering.
ABU HASAN
Rawalakot

English in public schools

Sir: The fact that private schools impart good English language skills to their students while public schools make no such effort has resulted in two vastly different classes of students arriving in universities. Unable to compete, many students from the government schools hide behind the lame Urdu-is-the-national-language excuse. Not that they are to blame. Given that all higher education requires English language skills, the government must see to it that the schools it runs prepare the students well. Studying at public schools should not be allowed to become an insurmountable handicap.
SHUMAILA ABDUL RAUF
Karachi

A balance sheet

Sir: Over the past 58 years we received billions of dollars in aid and grants and obtained huge amounts in loans. We also collected trillions of rupees from the citizens, mostly the middle class. We also generated a considerable amount of foreign exchange through the export of manpower. This is what we spent it on:

1) We built an Asian Brasilia, a capital that looks nothing like rest of the country.
2) We mastered the nuclear fuel cycle and developed and tested the atom bomb. We also developed ballistic and cruise missiles to carry conventional as well as strategic weapons.
3) We raised and trained one of the largest standing armies in the world.
4) We built airports used by a tiny minority and airline whose profits are consumed by subsidies and concessions for the privileged.
5) We built motorways “from nowhere to nowhere” before we had the volume of traffic to justify them.
6) We built the “biggest” dams in world instead of a network of small dams to boost our water resources.
7) We spent huge amounts on the salaries, living, travelling, treatment and entertainment of our ministers and legislators and their families.
8) We spent billions of dollars on import of luxuries like kitchenware, sanitary fittings, designer clothing, cars, perfumes, cosmetics, toys, drinks, packaged foods, jewellery, plants and pets.

Had we forgone the above we could have achieved:

1) A literacy rate of 90 percent or more.
2) Provision of safe drinking water for every citizen.
3) Universal health care.
4) Reasonable housing for all.
5) Supply of electricity and natural gas to every house.
6) Roads linking all cities, towns and villages of the country.
7) A railway system serving most parts of the country.
8) Safe public transport.
9) Efficient utilisation of land.

But all we really have lost is just 58 years. Not too late by any means to review our priorities.
IRSHAD KHAN
Via email

Doing our share

Sir: In response to a letter published in Daily Times of November 18, 2005, we wish to share that the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), has been heavily engaged in providing humanitarian relief and support, working in close partnership with the Pakistan government, UN organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies, involving more than 1,000 staff and volunteers.

In addition, On October 10, 2005, His Highness the Aga Khan announced an initial contribution of Rs 30 million ($500,000) in support of the relief assistance being provided by the government. This was matched by Habib Bank Limited, owned by the Aga Khan, with a further Rs 30 million ($500,000) donation towards the President’s Emergency Relief Fund.

Focus Humanitarian Assistance, an AKDN affiliate, was among the first local agencies to deploy search and rescue teams alongside with the British RAPID Force team initially at Margalla Towers in Islamabad, and then to Muzaffarabad and surrounding areas. FOCUS has carried out evacuation and relief operations in more than a dozen locations in AJK and NWFP including some of the most remote and difficult-to-access areas.

Managed by the Aga Khan Foundation, four AKDN helicopters, two of which have been deployed to Pakistan from their base in Central Asia, have carried out more than 750 sorties, carrying more than 580 metric tons of relief and medical cargo for about 85,000 people, over 3,800 passengers (including villagers requiring evacuation and relocation, government officials, army personnel, aid workers, medical staff, and international diplomatic officials).

They have delivered relief goods including 1,150 tents and more than 16,500 blankets and have evacuated more than 1,100 casualties from vulnerable locations.

The Aga Khan University, the Aga Khan University Hospital, and the Aga Khan Health Service, have provided emergency medical services including specialised trauma surgery, mass vaccinations and trauma counselling. Emergency training in basic nursing, life support, medical and psychiatric support has also been provided. More than 80 doctors, including physicians, surgeons, paediatricians, anaesthesiologists and other medical specialists are working in the disaster areas.

Furthermore, 40 nurses, and teams of medical technicians, field officers, and medical students have been deployed in the disaster areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the NWFP to facilitate the relief work. Medical and surgical supplies continue to be provided and are regularly replenished.

For the earthquake appeal made by the Government of Pakistan, His Highness the Aga Khan, Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), has made a three-year, $50-million commitment for the AKDN to support rehabilitation, socio-economic development and earthquake-preparedness in areas of the North West Frontier Province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir affected by the October 8 shocks. Prince Amyn Aga Khan, brother of His Highness, at the recent international conference convened by the Government of Pakistan on November 19, 2005, made the announcement.

Committed to providing a combination of financial and technical support, the AKDN will draw on the extensive expertise and experience of its agencies gained through decades of work with urban and rural communities in high-mountain, seismically-sensitive areas in Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia. The commitment includes:

* Education in land planning, training in seismic-resistant construction, disaster preparedness and the development of civil society expertise and capacities to improve planning for urban and rural communities, all to optimise the rebuilding of the habitat and to help mitigate the impact of future earthquakes.
* Community mobilisation for rehabilitation and socio-economic development.
* Training, including in-service training, of health and education professionals to serve remote and isolated mountain communities.
* Technical advice and longer-term support for safer and more efficient aerial access to the affected region, including the improvement of the quality of air transport infrastructure, such as helicopter landing pads, approach guidance systems and refuelling bases and maps.
* Continued support for access to the affected areas from AKDN’s Pakistan-based helicopters, and others in the region as necessary, whose design specifically enables them to function effectively in high-mountain zones.

The AKDN will contribute the extensive experience it has gained in recent decades in the mountain zones of the Hindu Kush, Pamirs, and Tien Shan in northern Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia. This includes lessons learnt about such issues as the special needs of rural and urban planning in mountain habitats, the development of energy, water and sanitation infrastructure and resources, seismic-resistant construction, as well as training and capacity building for disaster preparedness, particularly at the community level.
WAQAS MAHMOOD
Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan)
Islamabad

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