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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

Garbage disposal

Sir: Why don’t the people of our city properly dispose off their garbage? Most empty plots, even in expensive suburban localities such as the Defence Housing Society, have rubbish strewn across them. People don’t throw their trash in their respective baskets and instead choose to throw it on empty plots away from their houses. Plots infested with rubbish are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, flies and bacteria and this is why diseases such as malaria, dengue and bacterial infections are rampant in our country. Efforts have been made to curb the use of plastic bags that sometimes clog gutters resulting in the overflow of sewage onto roads, but even this has been to no avail. Isn’t it a vital part of our education as well as our civic duty to properly dispose off garbage?
AZMAT ASHRAF
Karachi

Scam

Sir: I was shocked to read the story about the Model Town scam (Daily Times, February 23). I am not concerned with the monetary value of the lease but there is no justification for a warehouse being built in the vicinity. Model Town has already suffered from unchecked commercialisation, but this incident takes the cake. The citizens of this country should protest against such violations and the city and provincial governments should put a stop to such activities.
S KARIM
Via email

Scam II

Sir: With reference to the Rs 4 billion Model Town scam, I want to point out that nowhere in the world are warehouse facilities developed in the centre of the city. This is an obvious case of greed and corruption where the interests of many are ignored for those of a few. As I understand it, Model Town society will lose approximately Rs 2.7 billion over the next 30 years. The rationale for this is that if this land is sold for roughly Rs 2 billion and the money put in a fixed deposit scheme, the money earned over the next 30 years will be much more than the amount the company currently wants to pay the society.
RACHEL
Via email

Scam III

Sir: As a Model Town resident I am extremely concerned about why expensive commercial land is being leased out to a multinational. The prices of residential plots in Model Town are approximately Rs 15 million per kanal whereas the price of commercial plots is around Rs 60 million per kanal. According to the Model Town Society (MTS) bylaws such a step can’t be taken without the consent of the general body, and so far this has not been done. Moreover MTS is overseen and run by elected residents and the Punjab government cannot force its decision on it.

If a warehouse is set up in a residential area measuring 100,000 square feet, imagine the increased traffic congestion and pollution in the area. Warehouses in other countries are usually located away from residential areas for these very reasons. As residents of Model Town, we cannot tolerate any scheme that is not in our interests and will spoil the beauty and calm of our neighbourhood.
USMAN HAQ
Lahore

Scam IV

Sir: This is in reference to the Model Town scam. Model Town was designed and established as a model colony before independence and the MTS is registered under the Cooperative Societies Act. It renders municipal services to its members and functions under its own byelaws and the Cooperative Societies Act.

The handing over of 80 kanals of land to a private party is not in the interests of the members and is against the master plan of the town. Management has decided to hand over the land to a private party without the approval of the managing committee, the general body or the supreme body. Further, approval from the registrar of cooperative societies also hasn’t been taken as required under cooperative law. We can’t let the residents of our colony bear the costs of this scam.
MIAN FEROZ SALAHUDDIN
Lahore

Unfounded

Sir: It is interesting that no official Iraqi records or documents exist that give an actual head count of the Sunnis and/or Shias in Iraq. The reason is that none of the previous Iraqi government censuses carried out till the fall of the last regime specified the sects of the citizens. In fact no official document issued by the Iraqi government to date mentions any Muslim sect. Hence references to Sunni’s as a minority or Shias as a majority are unfounded and perpetuate disunity among Muslims in the region.
MARYAM PARACHA
Via email

Put a stop

Sir: After reading the article “Health worker ‘raped’ for refusing to abort love child” (Daily Times, February 24) I was disappointed to realise that gang rapes have become all too common in Pakistan. Why is this so? When I was young this crime was virtually unheard of. Is somebody keeping a track on how many married and unmarried women have been gang raped in recent years and how many of their rapists have been convicted? Our country should severely punish the perpetrators of such acts to set an example for the rest of society.
IQBAL HADI ZAIDI
Kuwait

Riots

Sir: The riots during the recent anti cartoon demonstrations in Lahore resulted in the destruction of many cars and motorcycles. While it is justified that owners be compensated for this loss, why must this compensation be made from taxpayers’ money instead of out of the pockets of those responsible for the damage?
TS BOKHARI
Attock

Cartoon controversy

Sir: The combined opposition on Thursday declined the government’s proposal to join a parliamentary delegation for talks with European parliamentarians regarding the controversial Danish cartoons. Opposition leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, rejected the offer on the grounds that the government had failed to represent national sentiment on the issue and that protests against the cartoons should continue.

I think the opposition should accept the proposal as it will be a golden opportunity for opposition leaders to directly express their points of view to European parliamentarians. Though the opposition has a right to protest, we have seen the loss of property and lives resulting from their earlier protests. More protests may lead to more violence whereas face-to-face meetings with European parliamentarians sound more logical, concrete and effective.
NASIR RIAZ
Lahore

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