SPOTLIGHT: Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink!: Corruption: How much is too much?

Lament is frequently head from interested quarters (interested on account of one "reason" or another) that the Supreme Court is targeting PPP alone to the exclusion of other wrongdoers. These quarters ignore the fact that parties in power are always under close scrutiny for the simple reason that they possess the power and the resources of the state which they are supposed to use judiciously for the benefit of the people and the country and in line with the law of the land and its constitution and in our country they often don't.
The blame is on the other foot The Court is also blamed (again by certain quarters) of going easy on alleged wrongdoing by PMLN leaders the Punjab Government run by the party conveniently forgetting the fact that prosecution in most of the cases of the type is the responsibility of the Federal Government which it has shirked for one dubious reason or another accommodating itself and the friendly opposition under allegedly shady deals.
SC kept busy The fact of the matter is that for one thing, the Supreme Court is kept busy round the clock by tricks being played by the PPP government, like transferring honest officers (about to close in on wrongdoing by the rulers and their progeny) out of the case and often out of their function, among other obstructionist ploys. For another, there has never been a government in power in Pakistan under which the high and the mighty or their family members have stood accused of as many criminal acts as the PPP government under President Zardari. Hardly a week passes in which a new scam or criminal misdeed involving high ups in the government does not break out in Media as scabies disfiguring the face of a very sick person. The following is the sorry narration in brief of a number of scams appearing in print media on a single day (Thursday, 7th September 2012) late last weekend. A full week's coverage would fill the whole newspaper and then some!
Water theft: crime against humanity For a start a very bad news that broke on us that day had to do with a precious gift Allah has given us in the form of sweet water. No less an official than the MD KWSB Misbahuddin Farid was reported to have submitted his resignation citing 'unavoidable circumstances' and political interference in the functioning of his office. The report quotes an unnamed "inside" source as claiming that the MD's resignation was the result of a tug-of-war over water hydrants. The report adds the comment that "the post of MD KWSB is thought to be particularly lucrative, despite the poor financial condition of the water utility". Well that is no secret. Several TV channels have taken the trouble to visit water hydrant sites to show in visual detail how a number of hydrants are selling water illegally thus depriving the Water Board of legitimate revenue and diverting water from the poorer sections of the city to relatively better off people who perhaps use it for purposes like over watering their lawns or some such luxury.
The high stakes modus operandi Large-scale corruption with involvement of high officials of KWSB was also alleged in several detailed Media reports in the past. The Modus Operandi was also exposed in great detail. It was reported that big water consumers like 5-star hotels were allowed to run huge bills. The bills or challans were raised but copies not passed onto the Finance Department which would have followed up on payments. Instead in a quiet meeting officials of the inner circle would call upon the mega consumer, get paid a hefty amount under the table and tear the bills as if they never existed. It was tragic fun to see high officials of the department leaving their offices in a hurry to avoid being confronted by nosy and persistent TV cameras and reporters wanting to talk to them.
After Railway land, now Radio land Yet another news item appearing in print on the same date had to do with land possessed by Radio Pakistan. We have heard reports of how land and property belonging to Government owned enterprises like Pakistan Steel, PIA, Pakistan Railways, and NILC was allegedly diverted to unlawful uses and the billions gained thereby found their way into the pockets of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats under their control. Over the decades these lands have grown several thousand times their original value and there is no better way of getting rich by fraudulent means than by grabbing part of this high value public property one way or another.
So can there be any surprise that the eternally greedy have now set their sights on land belonging to Radio Pakistan. No less a person than the Director General Radio Pakistan, Murtaza Solangi, is reported to have confirmed that some influential people had their eyes on this land but he that he would not let this happen during his tenure. The land in question said to be as large in area as 370 acres located on the main GT Road in Rawalpindi is said to be worth Rs 50 billion! The proceeds from the sale of this land if it is indeed surplus to the current needs of Radio Pakistan as reported can help the country in several ways. For example our national debts can be reduced to that extent, our primary education can get a much needed financial shot in the arm, or our power projects could be expedited through use of the funds thus made available and so on. It would be another colossal case of corruption however if the land is sold at throw-away prices through underhand deals, as feared in the report and huge amounts used to line pockets belonging to the rich and mighty of the land.
Information Ministry's "secret" funds According to a published news item of the same date (dated 7 September 2012) the Supreme Court ordered the freezing of the allegedly "secret" funds of the Ministry of Information till September 12. The order was passed by a two-member bench during the hearing of a petition filed by two well-known Mediamen in the Supreme Court Quetta Registry on Thursday for the establishment of a media accountability commission. It was alleged that such a fund existed and was used to pressurise the Media into following a certain line (presumably to present the Government and its policies in a kinder light). The brief suspension will enable the SC bench to do a fact-finding exercise and order steps as may be necessary to prevent misuse of funds say for political ends or other dubious purposes and to order that procedures be put in place to ensure transparency. The question in the first place is why should a fund of this nature or any public fund for that matter be secret? Transparency requires that information about expenditure from funds at the disposal of the Information Ministry should be available to the public and/or watchdog bodies tasked with preventing any misuse of this part of the public money. On and off there is a lot of talk in the air about such and such TV Channel or anchorperson bought over to skew presentations and project a certain political party in a kinder light than it deserved.
People also judge for themselves While we await the outcome of Supreme Court's deliberations, let us not forget, political blame-game apart, that people (viewers of TV and readers of newspapers) are a shrewd judge of whether views presented before them are genuinely presented or the person expressing them does not appear to be convinced himself of the truth of what he is saying and speaks only to discharge or honour a certain "obligation". A sudden and unexplainable somersault on the part of a columnist or debater in his views makes people prick their ears, detect false notes and draw their own conclusions about what might be happening behind the scenes.
Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) A newspaper with the Islamabad by-line carried the allegation on the same date (7 September 12) that PPP is using the BISP support funds for what it called "pre-poll rigging". In proof thereof it alleged that privileged information about the beneficiaries of the scheme is shared with PPP leaders by the officials managing the fund so that it can be used to influence voters to vote for their party. The allegation according to the report is based on revelations by "sources in BISP" as well as official documents. The information alleged to have been thus provided to PPP leaders is said to include names of four million current and three million future beneficiaries of the fund.
NICL: Big ones on the run They include several bright stars shining in our political firmament: MNA Ali Musa Gilani, son of former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Federal Minister for Textile Industries Makdoom Shahabuddin and Inspector General Motorway Police Zafar Abbas Luk among the 14 accused named in a petition filed by ANF (Anti-Narcotics Force). They have been running from court to court seeking pre-bail arrest. Federal Minister Amin Fahim who was allegedly unaware how several million rupees got into his account and also accused of unlawfully appointing Ayaz Khan Niazi as chairman NICL has been provided some relief by the Sindh High Court which has restrained FIA from arresting him "without sufficient evidence". All have chosen to take recourse to dodging investigating agencies and courts instead of offering themselves for trial, proving themselves free of wrongdoing and coming out of dubious shadows engulfing them. In their current ways they are but following examples from high up.
Judiciary to blame? In the backdrop of such massive and continuously recurring corruption routinely indulged in by the government of the day can anyone take seriously the allegation from interested quarters that under CJP Chaudhry the Judiciary is exceeding its brief and unreasonably interfering with mala fide intentions in matters that lie in the Executive area? ([email protected])