Hell on wheels

GIVEN the grisly death toll from traffic accidents on our highways, one would think that the road transport sector is deserving of some attention so that the hazards that create often hellish scenes can be identified and addressed. Most recently, over 60 people were burned alive following a collision on Sindh’s Super Highway when their bus collided with an oil tanker and caught fire. Scenes of the burned wreckage inside the bus were absolutely nightmarish. A few months ago in November, a similar collision near Khairpur killed 58 people while earlier in April some 40 people were killed in an accident near Sukkur when their bus collided with a trailer. Closer to Karachi, another collision between a bus and an oil tanker last year led to 35 people being incinerated in Hub district. In each case, the death toll was dreadfully high, and the nature of the collisions strikingly similar.

The myriad hazards that lead to accidents of such horrific scope remain unaddressed, while all that the grieving families of the victims are left to deal with is a bland form of fatalism. Far too many hazards are allowed to persist in the road transport sector. The state of the roads is appalling and traffic rules poorly conceived and even more inadequately enforced. Drivers are untrained and not sensitised to the need to protect the precious lives entrusted to their care. Buses are packed beyond capacity and built to prevent any escape in the event of an emergency, while fuel tanks are loosely assembled. In the case of the Hub accident, for instance, the bus in question was carrying jerry cans full of smuggled fuel from Iran on its roof. In the most recent accident, the CNG cylinders on the vehicle’s roof exploded, causing the inferno.

To top it off, no proper emergency response system is in place. High-level responsibility needs to be fixed, starting with the provincial transport minister, Mir Mumtaz Hussain Jhakrani, and the secretary transport, Tuaha Ahmed Farooqui. It is too easy to blame the driver especially when the frequency of such accidents makes clear that far more than the carelessness of those driving the vehicle is at play. The roads are hazardous, and the transport sector has been left to its own devices. The provincial government needs to wake up to its responsibility in this area, and it must start by holding those at the top accountable for their lapses.

Monumental courage

TO dwell upon what must have gone through the minds of those connected with Peshawar’s Army Public School, when it reopened yesterday, less than a month after the grotesque Dec 16 massacre, is to be overtaken simultaneously by apprehension and awe. The former sentiment stems from reasons that are obvious, but it is the latter that dominates because of the immense courage and fortitude shown by the staff, parent body and especially the students of the school.

The horror these premises saw was too much, and took place too recently; too many spoke silently by their absence. Those who had to make such a difficult decision can be offered only the empathy of a nation in mourning, for perhaps there was never really a choice when it came to reopening the school: the darkness that seeks to overcome the country has to be resisted in every way possible — sadly enough, regardless of the enormous personal cost extracted.

The army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, was correct in showing support by visiting the school on the day it reopened, but it is the prime minister who should have been present. It is reasonable to expect the head of government to concern himself with such an event, not for the optics or reasons of politics but out of genuine emotion. Yet, unfortunately, in this country such hopes often turn out to be in vain.

Now that the school’s administration and student body have signalled their desire to turn towards the future, it behoves the government, the army and the polity at large to provide all the help possible. Most obviously and crucially, there is the need to make available teams of professionals who are easily accessible and can help in grief counselling and countering the effects of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. In the wake of an atrocity of such scale, it is hard enough to imagine adults finding coping mechanisms; for children this appears almost impossible. If the state is committed to its promises of saving the future of the country ie its children, then this would be a good place to start. The school administration, on its part, can consider methods of catharsis too, one example being the conversion of the auditorium, the main venue of the killings and which has been cordoned off, into a memorial.

Meanwhile, in Peshawar and elsewhere, there is the need for the state to more urgently start beefing up security and step up coordination on gathering intelligence. Educational institutions have been asked to tighten protocols, and they must surely do that. But it is for the government to aggressively counter the central problem: the hydra-headed monster of militancy. The words that spring to mind come from Pakistan-born British author Nadeem Aslam: “Pakistan produces people of extraordinary bravery. But no nation should ever require its citizens to be that brave.”

Fisheries threatened

OWING primarily to overfishing, not only is the long-term stability of the fisheries industry under threat, species once found in plenty in Pakistan’s coastal waters may soon become a rarity. As reported in this paper, lobster fisheries along the Sindh and Balochistan coasts are on the verge of collapse, while matters also do not look good where other marine species, such as fish and shrimp, are concerned. Along with overfishing, the use of illegal small-sized nets has also jeopardised the fishing trade, as these nets scoop up nearly everything — including juvenile fish — from the depths of the sea. Reportedly, most of the catch that reaches the harbour in Karachi consists of juvenile fish. This ‘trash fish’ yields a lower price in the market, while the process also disturbs the natural reproductive cycle of marine life. Huge foreign trawlers fishing illegally in Pakistan’s waters have also decimated fish stocks.

To protect the fisheries industry and to maintain the ecological balance, a sustainable fisheries policy needs to be implemented. A crackdown is required against destructive illegal nets that — despite being outlawed — are still in widespread use. Better policing of the coastline and territorial waters is also required in order to keep a check on illegal vessels. It must also be ensured that fish, shrimp and lobsters are not caught during their respective breeding seasons; unless the stocks are allowed to be replenished, there is little hope for the future availability of many marine species in our waters. Fishermen need to be consulted and alternative means of livelihood suggested during the periods the ban on fishing is enforced. The choice is between the stakeholders coming up with a sustainable and fair fisheries policy and the seafood industry in Pakistan being prepared for its eventual demise. Unless the fisheries sector is regulated with input from all stakeholders, including fishermen and experts, and policy decisions are firmly implemented, we risk destroying rich marine life and countless livelihoods due to unsustainable practices.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2015.