Mangrove plantation
Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009
TRYING to set a world record for trees planted in a single day generates publicity and helps raise awareness of the urgent need for environmental protection. In this connection, credit must go to the Sindh forest department which in conjunction with the federal environment ministry hopes to plant as many as 450,000 mangrove saplings around a barren island near Keti Bandar in Sindh. What is particularly encouraging about this initiative is the emphasis on local participation. Members of the indigenous community will be in the forefront of the plantation drive and, it is envisaged, will ultimately be paid to monitor and preserve the new mangrove stand as it matures. While this initiative must be lauded, it needs to be said that tackling the destruction of mangrove forests is a fight that must be fought on many fronts. New plantation drives cannot be a substitute for the massacre of existing forests, nor can one-off schemes suffice in the absence of a comprehensive preservation strategy.
It is estimated that Pakistan’s coastline boasted nearly 605,000 hectares of dense, normal and sparse mangrove vegetation in 1966. Today this figure is said to stand at roughly 170,000 hectares, though some believe it is much lower. A combination of factors has contributed to this heavy loss of life (yes, it is time we started thinking of plants and non-human animals in those terms as well). Faced with a lack of alternative fuel and timber sources, coastal communities have been guilty over the decades of over-harvesting what were once abundant mangrove resources. A burgeoning population also comes into it, as does destruction by influential developers who can flout environmental laws at will. Then there is the growing shortage of freshwater supplies in the delta region, which has increased sea-water salinity and resulted in the stunted growth or slow death of mangrove stands. Discharge of untreated effluent into the Arabian Sea and pollution generated by port activities are other major culprits. Mangrove forests are rich in biodiversity, serve as marine hatcheries and present a buffer against tidal surges and tsunamis. They must be protected at all cost.
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Return of IDPs
Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009
NOW that the IDPs have started returning to their hometowns with the government’s help, we can hope that normalcy will soon be restored to the conflict-hit areas. Nearly 200 displaced families left the Jalozai camp on Monday, while another 26 started their journey from Charsadda. Many said that their nightmare appeared to be coming to an end. Repeated assurances have been given that the areas, dominated by the militants until quite recently, are now safe; administrative services such as water and electricity supplies as well as banking facilities are also being restored in many areas. This constitutes some evidence of the government’s commitment to its stated resolve of facilitating the IDPs’ return.
Nevertheless, it must be recognised that major challenges continue to confront both the government and the IDPs. More than two million citizens were displaced by the conflict and their return to and rehabilitation in the battle-scarred areas, devastated by the use of heavy artillery, will not be easy. The attacks and counter-attacks have taken their toll on the civic infrastructure; the scale of reconstruction required is immense. That services such as water, gas and electricity are being restored in some areas is no doubt encouraging. But beyond this basic step other measures such as rebuilding schools and hospitals are required. Furthermore, a support system for the returnees will have to be put in place until they are able to resume their normal income-generating activities — and this may take some years.
Meanwhile, chances of a lasting normalcy will hinge on the security situation. The army’s claim that the militants have been routed in the affected areas has held so far. However, militant activity by even a handful of the remaining Taliban would be enough to spread terror and severely disrupt civic life. After all, we have witnessed little success when it has come to arresting or eliminating the militants’ top leaders. It is evident that the IDPs are aware of this danger: the Emergency Response Unit had made arrangements for over 2,000 families to leave the Jalozai camp, but the majority of them refused to do so, citing security concerns. Lasting peace in these areas requires not only that civic life be restored to what it was before the militants launched their attacks, but that the earlier position of the citizenry be improved upon. The region needs increased investment in development: better educational facilities, more income-generating opportunities and greater economic contact with the rest of the country. Only then will it be possible to eliminate the risk of disillusioned citizens turning against the state in the future.
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Madressahs as a cover
Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009
IT was not a suicide bomber who left 12 people, including seven children, dead in a village near Mian Channu on Monday; it was a huge quantity of ammunition stored in a seminary that blew up, spewing death and destruction. This is just a small indication of what some of those who run madressahs do behind what would appear to be an innocuous, even laudable, activity. The man who ran the seminary, Riaz Kamboh, was known to have militant links, had gone to Afghanistan for training and was arrested twice but then released. Seemingly, the madressah he ran was teaching the Holy Quran to village boys and girls. However, the recovery of propaganda literature and suicide jackets from the debris makes it abundantly clear that he was using the madressah as a cover for organising a terrorist cell which brainwashed and trained young people to become terrorists and suicide bombers.
What happened at village 129/15-L in south Punjab is symptomatic of a larger phenomenon throughout the country, for many — though not all — madressahs have links with banned militant organisations and serve as recruiting grounds and as centres of indoctrination for both boys and girls. Let us not forget that Jamia Hafsa was an intrinsic part of the Lal Masjid empire run by the Aziz-Rashid duo, and it used girls for unlawful activities like raiding and occupying a government library and kidnapping a woman. There are thousands of such madressahs and seminaries in Pakistan, and though all of them cannot be tarred with the same brush the security agencies must be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. That Kamboh’s activities remained undetected constitutes a sad commentary on the efficiency of our security agencies whose performance leaves a lot to be desired. We do not know how many other Kambohs are using madressahs as cells for terrorist activity.
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OTHER VOICES - European Press Crisis in tourism
Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009
THESE are very bad times for the Cyprus tourism industry. Arrivals are down, spending is down, hotel occupancy rates are low and bars, cafes, clubs and restaurants are struggling… but everyone knows there are no quick fixes.
In the last couple of weeks we have even witnessed bickering between the coastal resorts, with the mayor of Ayia Napa implying on radio that Paphos was exploiting … cases of … swine flu in the Famagusta district to attract more local tourism….
The message by the Hotelier’s Association chairman Haris Loizides was clear — things were bad enough, without the media making them worse….
Loizides … said the economic crisis created an opportunity to upgrade the Cyprus tourist product — we could improve our hotels, our tourist areas and the image of tourism in general. This is indeed a great opportunity to make improvements….
But to achieve this we need a proper strategic plan, with short-, medium-, and long-term goals. First, we need to decide what type of tourist destination Cyprus could be. Everyone talks about attracting high-quality tourism, while we have always been a destination that caters for mass tourism. Resorts full of karaoke bars, below-average restaurants and tacky cafes will not attract the high-income tourists we dream of…. Perhaps, it would be very costly to make the switch, both financially and politically….
This may not be a financially viable option, in which case efforts would have to focus Cyprus Mail
on regaining our competitiveness. This might also be very difficult, given the way the cost of living has been rising, but the crisis is more than likely to force tourist businesses to lower prices…. There is no denying, however, that this is an opportunity to return to the drawing table, re-think our tourist policy, take decisions and devise a strategy for implementing them.… (July 14)