EDITORIAL: THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

 

Transferring powers

AS the battle over the devolution of some of the responsibilities of the Higher Education Commission rages on — the Supreme Court is set to hear the matter — a wider issue has been lost sight of: preparing the provinces for the responsibility of administering subjects devolved under the 18th Amendment. With 10 ministries now devolved and several more to follow, the centre and the provinces have yet to work out an agreement on either the financial aspects or the technical/capacity side of things.

On the financial side, the provinces are arguing that when the seventh NFC award was being negotiated they were given assurances by the centre that any ministries to be devolved under the 18th Amendment would be accounted for separately. However, the centre is claiming that because the NFC enhanced the share of the provinces from the total resources pool, the provinces should be able to pay for the new provincial ministries from their shares under the award. At stake, then, are both recurring expenditures, such as salaries and overheads, and the financing of existing projects approved and initiated by the federal ministries which have been devolved. There are two related problems: one, because overall revenue projections have not been realised, the centre is finding it difficult to meet the NFC commitments; two, the provinces have done little to enhance revenues raised at the provincial level, as also pledged under the NFC. With money so short, the new ministries at the provincial level risk being stillborn.

Next, the issue of capacity. The 18th Amendment envisaged a transition of powers to be completed in a certain time frame, but the timing, pace and modalities of the transfers have been left up to an implementation committee. But all subjects are not equal; some devolved powers raise questions that the implementation committee may not easily find answers to. For example, with the medicinal drugs policy becoming a provincial subject following the 18th Amendment, the country risks having multiple standards for drugs licensing. With the commercial stakes so high and powerful pharmaceutical interests at work, the possibility of substandard drugs making it to the market legally will go up. A possible solution would be to have an inter-provincial coordination body dealing with drugs licensing, but for that to happen the provinces and the centre would need to work together in a way that arguably goes beyond the mandate of the existing implementation committee. The furore over the HEC — indeed, before the implementation committee`s clarification, we too had expressed our concerns about higher education being devolved — has tended to obscure these potentially more important, matters.

Energy shortfall

THE energy shortages in the country are worsening by the day as the demand for electricity, gas and other fuel outstrips supplies. These shortages have been responsible for the long-duration power blackouts and gas cuts for both domestic and industrial consumers across the country for several years now. The problem has aggravated during the last couple of years. Even the addition of expensive rental 1,700 megawatts to the national grid by the government has failed to improve the situation. The government has done little to overcome the shortages in its three years despite the fact that in his inaugural speech in March 2008, the prime minister had promised to work on a `war footing` to end power cuts in the country. There has been a substantial increase in energy prices, yet the government does not have the financial resources to bridge the supply gap.

The energy shortages, according to the prime minister, are thus feared to double over the next 15 years “unless addressed urgently by all stakeholders in the public and private sectors”. Many would say it could hit Pakistan much sooner than Mr Gilani estimates but few experts would disagree with his admission that his cash-strapped government cannot tackle energy issues on its own. The prime minister has urged the private sector to step forward to help it. He has announced the formation of a government-industry council to make recommendations for a speedy solution to the problem that is affecting growth and resulting in job and production cuts. The private sector is reluctant to invest money in this sector for various reasons, not least of which are allegations of corruption in the award of power projects in the past, judicial activism, bureaucratic hitches and security concerns. There are many who would readily invest in the energy sector. But their lack of trust in the government`s ability to implement its policies and protect their investment is stalling their plans. If the government is serious about forming partnership with private investors in the energy sector it will have to work harder to improve its credibility.

Unclaimed vehicles

SOME 102 motorcycles that are parked on the premises of Karachi`s Anti-Car-Lifting Cell are on the verge of being deposited in the police`s central vehicle pool, the Nazarat. These vehicles are unclaimed amongst some 800 motorcycles recovered or confiscated by the police between Jan 1 and April 6. Last year, the Karachi police sent well over 300 unclaimed motorcycles to the Nazarat. The police quote many reasons why vehicles remain unclaimed: in some cases, owners are not in a position to afford the lawyers` fees, while in others the courts direct the submission of sureties of up to Rs20,000 to regain possession of motorbikes, and the owners choose not to pursue the case. Sometimes, the police also find that the given residential addresses and contact numbers are incorrect.

This issue of unclaimed vehicles — both cars and motorcycles — is present in all Pakistan`s towns and cities. There is little effort by the police to correct this, and there have been cases where unclaimed vehicles have been found to be in the use of the law-enforcement personnel. However, part of the problem is the lack of a computerised database which can help the police easily link vehicles with the complainant/owner. A vehicle snatched or stolen from one part of the country, if recovered in another town or city, is unlikely to be matched up with its owner. Given the number of vehicles snatched or stolen in Pakistan every year, there is a need to develop an integrated database to trace the ownership of recovered vehicles. Then, through the police or other means, provincial governments must set up a system whereby the particulars of unclaimed vehicles, including registration and chassis numbers etc, are regularly and prominently advertised so that people who have had their vehicle stolen or snatched can find out whether and from where their vehicle has been recovered.