Ayaz Ahmed
For all and sundry, Gwadar would be more developed than Dubai and Hong kong after some years due to the massive Chinese investment. People in Pakistan tend to brush aside the entrenched political culture and national character; both have so far proved the main stumbling blocks in the way of socio-economic prosperity and political sagacity. The present situation coupled with the government’s lack of sensible policies has made it abundantly clear that Gwadar would not be a mega city, rather, it will be an unruly place almost like today’s uncontrollable and crimes- stricken Karachi.
Even though Karachi generates around 65 percent revenue for the country, the metropolis manifests the worst form of bad administration ever existed in the history. The city’s administrative set-up is largely unworkable and seems nowhere; the corrupt and highly politicised police brazenly collude with criminals and thieves for money; most of the dilapidated road are always clogged with massive traffic; criminal orgies of all kinds are ubiquitous and owing to lack of house scheming, a large number of houses are in shabby conditions. However, the areas under the armed forces are not beset by the same deeply-seated issues.
As one can see in Karachi, the city lacks a proper housing scheme, and builders pay handsome bribes to the city government to construct tattered, insecure and multi-storey apartments wherever they want. Similarly, the government in Balochistan has not evolved a comprehensive housing planning in order to facilitate the residents in Gwadar. Many a house is being constructed where the so-called industrial zones would be set up; these apartments will be razed once the port is full operational, thus multiplying the expenses of development works. Due to the dearth of feasible planning, narrow streets, decaying roads and absence of sewerage lines have created slums in the city.
The civilian government has been reluctant to plausibly reform the police of Balochistan so that it would bring about and maintain lasting security. The police have dismally failed to identify Baloch criminals who are fleeing from the ongoing Rangers’s operation in Karachi and settling down in different places of Balochistan including Gwadar and its adjoining areas. They are reported to have been involved in bouts of minor criminal activities in the city and towns. Arguably, once these criminals have absolute leeway, they will establish their stronghold and begin perpetrating criminal activities as they do in Karachi. All civilian law enforcement agencies are responsible for their utter failure to bust these budding criminal rings.
Quality education plays an important role in the development of a country. Though HEC provides scholarships to the students of Balochistan, that appear unproductive and inadequate due to the failed primary education prevailing in the province. A large number of school-age children are out of school in the province. Those who are enrolled in educational institutions are being imparted with an outmoded education by incompetent, poorly-trained and ignorant teachers. Therefore, such students will inevitably fail to acquire needed jobs, thus increasing the alarming rate of joblessness and poverty in the already backward province. As seen in Karachi, students without jobs will end up joining criminal groups to feed their families or earn for their addiction.
The government has done nothing to empower the residents of Gwadar socio-economically. Either due to poverty or greed for more wealth, the locals have sold their large swathes of land to the affluent businessmen of Sindh and Punjab. Those, who became millionaires overnight after selling lands, have wasted their substantial money, and are short of investment now. Lack of training and education have compelled a large number of locals in Gwadar to run donkey-carts and work as fishermen. This is reminiscent of the miserable situations prevalent in Karachi’s Baloch-dominated areas such as Lyari and Golimar. Except a handful locals, most of the residents in Gwadar would be employed as peons, sweepers, drivers and work as labours in heavy industries after the arrival of multinational corporations.
In our federal system, both the central and provincial governments are responsible for initiating and completing development projects with the hard working and honest Chinese. Since we are apathetic to making the bureaucracy and politics supportive, honest and efficient, the Chinese will face a slew of obstructions during the course of making Gwadar a mega city. Possibly, after taking into account the obstructive political culture of Pakistan, China would divert its entire investment towards Iran by investing on Chabahar Port in future.
It is evident that the army possesses the guts and administrative capability to transform Gwadar into an advanced and modern city. But the armed forces are responsible for maintaining the security, and they have nothing to do with political and bureaucratic functions. However, without the all-out administrative assistance provided by the army, the torpid and incompetent civilian government can not develop Gwadar in line with Dubai and other modern cities.
We are a nation that dreams at night but lacks the prudence and power to translate such dreams into reality. Until we prudently reform and restructure the highly corrupt, lethargic and inept democratic system, Gwadar as our dream will aways remain a pipedream and can not be morphed into an advanced and developed city. Rather, it would show the same ugly face which Karachi gloomily and ominously presents today. It is time to put our house in order and move ahead with the Chinese aimed at maximizing our core national interest. Without reforms, our efforts would produce no desired results in the near future.
Writer is a featured columnist.
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