Grave of killer couple’s victim to be exhumed in a few days

• Wednesday, 27 February 2013
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Homer Baloch

Islamabad: Grave exhumation of a diseased daughter of a senior police official, who was killed after becoming the second victim of Zahra Mehek and Ibrar, is expected to be carried out in next few days. Police sources have confirmed that the girl was buried without any postmortem in November 2012, but after confession of her murder by the killer couple the police will exhume her grave for her postmortem and to present evidence against the accused couple in court. Investigation officer ASI Mansoor told The Spokesman that the police have decided to exhume the grave of the girl who was killed by Mehek and Ibrar few months ago, but conditionally, if her family permitted the police. He further said that the senior police official will not prevent the police for grave exhumation as they know the laws too.

He also said that the police have been given remand of the two accused for two days and the timeframe for the grave exhumation depends upon the judicial proceedings. When he was asked about either the accused girl is mature or under age, he replied, “according to our information, the girl is mature and adult, but it will be proved after her medical checkup as the court orders.” On the other hand, Advocate Muzammil Din Gujjar, lawyer of Zahra Mehek, told The Spokesman that his client was under age and does not even possess her national identity card which is issued after adulthood.

US diplomat hit us deliberately, says victim

• Sunday, 24 February 2013

Photo by the Author

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Shozab Raza, the survivor of the accident which involved US Embassy official Lupersio Perez and killed one of the two bikers on the spot, has revealed that the US diplomat intentionally tried to crush and kill them on the night of February 14 after chasing them for quite some time on Constitution Avenue and Margalla Road.
“After hitting our bike with his SUV from behind, the diplomat kept dragging us for some time,” he said. “Not only did he hit us deliberately, dragged us purposely to crush us to death but after doing so he disembarked from his SUV just to check whether we are dead or still alive and after finding me badly hurt and my friend Muzammail almost dead, he went back to his vehicle and tried to escape,” revealed Shozab, who eventually was released ten days after the accident from the CDA Hospital after getting treatment for his broken bones.
Revealing these chilling details of a cold blooded US official, Shozab was in tears and said that "since I belong to a poor family, therefore, who cares about me because it's impossible to get even an FIR registered against such a cold blooded murderer." Police strangely has not registered a case on behalf of Shohzab but has filed a case on behalf of the father of deceased Muzammil and is pushing hard to get a Qisas Diyat (blood money) settlement for the deceased family to let the US official go scot free.
Shozab Raza, an employee of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and working in the Federal Lodges and was discharged from the hospital on Saturday, told The Spokesman that he along with his colleague Muzammil was riding on his bike and moving towards Saidpur village to drop Muzammil at his residence, when on the Margalla road, a land cruiser arrived parallel to them. “I recognised the vehicle as I had seen it before on our way and it was moving suspiciously around us. When we reached near Punjab House, the land cruiser number NK-927 hit us from our back and ragged us for a short distance,” he said.
He further said that he was riding the bike at the speed of 30 kilometres per hour. “After hitting us, the person driving the vehicle came out of it and checked Muzammil who was injured seriously, to ensure either he is alive or dead, and then again sat in his vehicle,” Shozab explained. He said he was just once contacted by some Pakistani officials from the US Embassy who attended him when he was in hospital, but later, no one from the embassy has contacted him yet regarding any compensation or assistance. It was his bike that got smashed and now he's without a mode of transport, he says.
Advocate Raja Shuja ur Rehman, lawyer of the victim, told The Spokesman that his client has registered an application in secretariat police station against the American official namely Lupersio Perez, under the charges of attempt to murder, but instead of considering it, the police registered an FIR number 15/13 of a road accident against the accused. He said the applicant of that application i.e. the father of Muzammil was not present at the time of incident but still police preferred their application just to assist the US official.
“Another FIR can also be lodged against the accused on the same case, as it is not forbidden according to laws, and we are considering to lodge it under the charges of 324, for attempt of murder because according to my client, it was not ‘an accident’ actually and the accused tried to kill both of them,” said Advocate Shuja. When contacted, SHO Qaiser Niaz Gilani of the secretariat police station told that technically, charges of attempt to murder cannot be registered in an accident, so whatever the police did was according to law.
When he was asked about the submission of challans against the accused, he replied, “the challans will be submitted soon as we were given fourteen days to submit it.” While ASI Shabbir, the investigation officer of the case again made the same statement for the same question, “We are still not given the medical report of Shozab Raza and the challan will be submitted as soon as we get the report to complete our investigation,” said Shabbir. He said that on Monday, he may get the report from polyclinic hospital as now Shozab has discharged and the hospital might have completed his medical report.
When contacted, US Embassy spokesperson Rian Harris stated that, “the US Embassy is in contact with the families involved in the accident and is working with them on issue of financial concern, in coordination with our local insurance company. We are not in liberty to discuss the details of those discussions.”

Police taking hasty action on girl’s murder to please court

Saturday, 23 February 2013

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Is it the fear of the Supreme Court or the typical police-way of wrapping up a murder case is not sure but capital police have rounded up a university student for murdering a 10-year-old-girl of Bhara Kahu who went missing on February 13 and three days later her charcoaled body was found from near Sector I-9.

Bhara Kahu Police officials confirmed the arrest of 23-year-old Ibrar, a university colleague of Ms Mehek, one of three family members (including father and brother) accused of killing their house maid's 10-year daughter, from his Rawalpindi house on Friday. “We have got four days remand of Ibrar today (Saturday) from Session Judge Ayesha Shabbir and the accused has confessed about raping and killing the minor diseased in initial investigation, and further details are likely to come from him during further interrogations,” Sub Inspector Maqsood confirmed.

Some police officials, seeking anonymity, confirmed that Mehek, who is currently on pre-arrest bail, was summoned to the police station for interrogations where despite torture and harassment she did not make a statement yet regarding any involvement of her or Ibrar in the murder. According to sources, although she knows Ibrar for some time as they both were students of the same university and in contact with each other but she has not met him in the last month.

Advocate Ch Muzammil Din Gujjar, the lawyer of the accused family while talking to The Spokesman stated that Mehek was kept in police station during night for more than 12 hours but still she had not stated what the police officials were forcing her to say. “There isn’t any hard and fast rule for keeping the accused into custody while investigating for a given time, but still the law states that the duration of the custody should be reasonable,” he said.

He further said that his clients were fully cooperating with the police officials and their innocence can be evaluated by knowing that the father and brother of the accused girl themselves went to the police station for the investigation where they were arrested and now they were being tortured by the police after getting their remand. Police sources have confirmed that the police officials are taking action in haste just to please the Supreme Court which has taken suo-motu notice of the issue.

It has also been learnt that a high official of the police department, living in the neighbourhood of the accused family, and knowing them for the past many years was taking interest to assist the accused family but was asked to back-off after receiving a phone call from the IGP Islamabad who allegedly prevented him from interfering.

A neighbour of Mehek, requesting anonymity, told The Spokesman that police was totally relying on the statement of the younger brother who is four or five years old. “In his first statement, the child who lives in front of the accused home has said that he saw her sister in Mehek’s home from balcony. But later when again the child was asked the same question by other people, he said he had not seen her,” he said.

Compensation to family of man run over by US vehicle

• Thursday, 21 February 2013

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: The family of Muzammil Hussain Shah, who was hit by a US official vehicle a week ago, has ultimately been offered compensation package by the Embassy officials.
When contacted, Chan Pir Ali, uncle of the diseased, stated that couple of days ago they were contacted by American officials at their home and wanted to arrange a meeting, but due to security reasons, the meeting was not possible to be arranged elsewhere in Islamabad, so they were requested to visit the US Embassy in Diplomatic Enclave to meet the authorities.
“We met the administration director in the embassy that showed his grief towards the death of my nephew, Muzammil, and offered us compensation on the death,” he said. The embassy has also confirmed their meeting with the family of the victim and their offer of the compensation. “We are currently carrying negotiations with the family and soon will provide them compensation,” said Rian Harris, spokesperson for the embassy.
According to sources, the compensation will be done in two phases. In first phase, an amount will be given to the family. In second phase, one of the four brothers of the deceased will be given a job in Pakistan. Pir Ali said that they were informed by the US officials that in previous two cases, 500,000 and 880,000 were given to the affected families respectively, and according to current status of the case, his family may be given better amount.
Besides the job offer to one of the brothers, the US officials have also considered to take care of all educational expenses of the deceased's daughter. The Secretariat Police have provided space to the US officials to patch up with the family as the challan against the accused namely Lupersio Perez has still not been submitted. The police stated that the challan will be submitted to the court within 14 days, only if their investigation report is completed.
The report is still incomplete as the medical report of Shoaib Raza, who was also injured in the same incident, has not been acquired by the police. Earlier, Polyclinic CMO Dr Tanveer had told The Spokesman that the medical report was ready to be picked up by police officials but they were not contacting him. On the other hand, Investigation Officer ASI Shabbir said that the medical report could not be attained from the hospital as he was told that the report was not completed yet.

Jinnah may become Bhutto

• Saturday, 16 February 2013
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HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Members of All Federal Health Employees Association on Saturday staged a protest demonstration against the expected move of the authorities to rename the Quaid-e-Azam Medical College with the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), to declare Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences as an autonomous body and suspension of Syed Manzar Abbas, chairman of the association.
Hundreds of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff marched through the corridors and gathered at the administrative section of the hospital and protested for almost six hours, where they raised slogans against the authorities and opposed the expected decision of the government to make PIMS an autonomous body. They also demanded to resume services of Syed Manzar Abbas who was dismissed a week ago by the PIMS administration.
In the past too, all the employees had opposed the move of the Health Ministry which was ready to make hospitals autonomous but the decision was postponed, Abbas, in charge of the Computer Section of PIMS, told The Spokesman. This year again, they did the same in an unscheduled meeting on January 30, he said. An employee requesting anonymity said that the decision would be a totally political as this may be a step by the government just to adjust their own men in the hospital.
Showing his caution, Abbas said the expected decision would cause confusion like the employees (of the hospital) will not remain under the direct government control as the universities has their own set up, of which, they (employees) would not get facilities that a government employee deserves. Furthermore, appointments of the doctors will not be made under the Federal Public Service Commission by which, the vice chancellor will be authorise to appoint or remove the employees at his own wish, he said.
“If the government really needs a medical university, it should either make it at some other place or just simply upgrade the Quaid e Azam Medical College,” he said. Raja Ilyas, working as security in charge at the Polyclinic and member of joint action committee, told The Spokesman that all three federal hospitals of Islamabad would be under the authority of vice chancellor according to this move. “We will lose our status of employees under the federal government. We are also protesting against the move and in solidarity with Mr Manzar Abbas for his illogical suspension,” he said.
Manzar Abbas, an officer of Grade 19 was suspended a week ago by the authorities for calling on a meeting in the conference room without any approval. An official requesting not to mention his name said that it was necessary to get approval for conducting a meeting in the conference room on day before the meeting. About his suspension, Abbas said that they had to conduct a meeting under joint action committee and they also had approval (to conduct meeting) from the library in charge, the officer authorised to give permission for conferences in conference room.
When contacted, PIMS Executive Director Professor Riaz Ahmad Warraich told The Spokesman that it was clearly mentioned in the bill that the status of the hospital and employees would not be affected by declaration of autonomous body. “Mr Manzar was suspended not by him but CAAD.
He was found violating the rules for entering the auditorium by force and causing it damage, for being involved in unions which is not allowed by the management, and for giving priority to his other activities rather than taking interest in his official matters,” he said.

Another family may enter into a financial agreement

• Friday, 15 February 2013

Homer Baloch

Islamabad: Muzammil Shah, 34, one of the two victims of reckless driving by a US embassy’s administrative assistant Lupersio Perez riding a non-diplomatic SUV was buried on Friday in Saidpur Village graveyard by his family members while Police officials continued to hush up the family and pressurize them to enter into a financial deal to let the American diplomat go unpunished.

Secretariat Police has registered a case in this regard according to which US diplomat, Perez is facing four counts of charges under Pakistani laws including section 320 for death in accident, 427 for negligence while driving, 337 for injuries due to accident and 427 for damaging the motorbike. Police officials seeking anonymity further revealed that since driver was found a bit drunk and was driving recklessly with headlights turned off, these charges had to be dropped on the pressure of high ups. Hosts of US embassy officials along with the people from Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs and interior were among those whom local police officials fear to name remained active in pressurizing the police to not only issue release orders of US diplomat on personal bond of an American official but not to indulge in going for medico-legal of the accused diplomat. The diplomat, sources confirmed tried to flee from the scene but was captured by passersby but was later shifted to a private hospital in Blue Area for complaining some chest pain and severe headache and was allowed to go home once the police agreed to accept his bail.

Shozab Raza,30, the second victim in the accident which happened around 9.30 pm on Thursday near Constitution Avenue and Margalla Road remains in a polyclinic hospital with hair-line fractures in knee and elbows and some bruises and doctors have declared him out of danger. Interestingly, as Perez had to be shifted to luxury hospital for complaining chest and headache, Shozab was immediately forced to leave by Poly Clinic Hospital until the relatives and CDA union members exchanged some hot words to ensure that at least he gets proper diagnostic and treatment upon which he was allowed to stay there and was given x-rays and ultimately the plasters around his fractures. Rao Sajjad Qamar, an employee of CDA said that “injured was crying with pain but doctors were insisting to shift him at his residence.”

Syed Zahoor, an eyewitness of the incident claimed that “American official was driving his vehicle at high speed while the headlights of his vehicle were off when he hit the motorbike.” Another eyewitness told that it was one Aimal, reported to be son of an MNA Muzaffar Malik of Swat who brought the injured to hospital on his own vehicle bearing registration No RU 447 and who also prevented American diplomat from fleeing the scene with the help of other passersby. The police officials at the check post near the venue of the incident showed their complete ignorance about the issue when they were approached.

Family members of the deceased youngster who was killed in a road accident by an American national on Thursday night are looking for justice as neither the American Embassy nor any government authority has contacted them yet, while the diplomatic official succeeded to get bail yesterday morning.

Chan Mohammad Shah, father of al bond of a US embassy official Muzammal, the deceased, after burying his son at Saidpur Village graveyard, told The Spokesman that no one from US embassy government authorities has approached his family yet regarding his son’s death. He further said that they only saw apology messages from American authorities on television but the embassy has not apologized or contacted them directly.

Muzammil Hussain Shah, resident of Saidpur Village and, a CDA employee working as lift operator at federal lodges and Shozab Raza  resident of Rawalpindi, working as electronic engineer were riding at Margalla road near Punjab house, when they were hit from behind by an American citizen Lupersio Perez, working as an assistant in administration at American embassy, according to police officials Muzammil was sitting at the back and got seriously injured and Shozab fractured his knee and elbows while their motorbike registered, RIL-3363, was rammed into the diplomat’s jeep. The victims were shifted to Poly Clinic hospital where Muzammil lost his life after struggling for two hours due to bleeding in chest and Shozab was admitted at surgical ward. The official land cruiser of Lupersio Perez numbered as NK-927 was taken under custody by secretariat police.

Muzammil Hussain Shah, aged 34 has left behind his parents, four brothers, a widow and a daughter aged 7 years in grief.

US Embassy responds:

 Meanwhile, a press statement of the US embassy Islamabad was released on Friday to confirm the involvement of its diplomat in road accident resulting in death of one biker. It read, "An accredited U.S. diplomat was involved in a road accident at approximately 9:30 PM on February 14 in the vicinity of Margalla Road and Constitution Avenue in Islamabad. The Embassy employee’s vehicle collided with a motorcycle carrying two Pakistani citizens, injuring both men. One of the individuals tragically perished as a result of his injuries." The embassy believes that second man is receiving medical treatment.

The statement further reads that U.S. Embassy employee also sustained minor injuries, was treated, and released but it did not mention that employee was intoxicated or not and that he remained in a local private hospital for some chest pain and severe headache not for any injuries, as claimed by police and some hospital officials. Neither it explained that how on personal bond the diplomat was taken home direct from hospital while local police was not even allowed to question him over the incident.

The U.S. Embassy however has extended its heartfelt condolences to the families affected by this tragedy and has assured to cooperate fully with the appropriate Pakistani authorities on the investigation. It also acknowledged that "we are working through our local insurance company to address financial questions or concerns," by expressing its deepest regret for this terrible accident, without talking to anyone from the aggrieved family. The embassy however, is busy to setttle down the issue through diplomatic route and continues to build pressure on concerned police officials to prepare ground for settling the matter through dollars with the aggrieved family. Initial offer, according to inside sources seems to be of five lakh rupees, which the family has turned down but then both police and family members are denying that any settlement is in progress.

Senior police officials avoiding to even talk on this latest hit and run issue by another diplomat revealed in private conversations that “It has been a routine that diplomats and embassy officials in the federal capital violate laws while police pressurizes the harmed citizens for a patch up.”

Hit and Run becoming a habit of Diplomats, more so for US ones:

The episode of US Consulate’s Raymond Davis can be termed as an extraordinary incident as he was involved in gun totting and shooting, otherwise it would have been hushed up in the name of diplomatic immunity. According to details the latest diplomat involved in hit and run joins the illustrious list of those who have done this in the past but managed to get away by showing diplomatic immunity card and force-shut cases by throwing dollars or visas to the victim families.

Jan 30, 2012: A Swiss diplomat, Snyveanne Moundllet, jumped a traffic signal at Radio Pakistan Chowk in her car and hit a watchman, Mahfooz, who was riding a cycle. He was taken to a nearby hospital. Soon after the treatment, police informed him that the diplomat wanted a patch-up and he has to give in writing that he didn’t want to file a case against her. Police did not arrest the women nor bothered to seize her car despite the fact that the vehicle bore an ordinary registration number.

July 25, 2010: A US diplomat killed Jawadur Rehman on Seventh Avenue.

October 28, 2010: An under secretary of the US embassy knocked down Rahmatullah, an employee of CDA. In both the cases police forced the affected citizens to make a deal.

2010-11: Notorious US contractor Raymond Davis had a very bad repute among the officials of federal police. Whenever officials wanted to check his vehicle he abused them. Police officials suspected that Davis carried weapons and a wireless set in his car but he never allowed anyone to check it. Davis joined the US marine force, but later switched over to FBI and served in Iraq and Afghanistan from where he came to Pakistan. He has been living in the country for the last 22 months. The embassy declared him a diplomat only as an afterthought and said that the Lahore police violated the Vienna Convention by arresting a diplomat.

Advocate Razzaq said according to Pakistan’s law a case could be filed against a diplomatic agent if he indulged in any activity outside his official functions. He said Vienna Convention required diplomats that it was duty of all persons enjoying privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state.

PIMS admin fails to ensure adequate staff for second shift

• Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Homer Baloch

ISLAMABAD: The patients coming for treatment at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in the second shift continue to suffer at the hands of administration, which lacks sufficient manpower for their treatment post-afternoon.
A large number of patients can be seen in every section of the hospital, especially outside the x-ray and ultrasound rooms where only two out of four x-ray machines are operational in the evening due to the fewer number of operators.
Haji Mushtaq, aged 65, was also among those waiting for the staff to do his x-ray. He told The Spokesman that “I am waiting here for last two hours but there are many people still waiting who came before me. I am feeling pain in my chest but the staff is working at a painfully slow pace”.
An official working in the x-ray department explained the situation furiously. “At morning times, almost 20 people work in this section but at this time [evening], you can see only two men doing the same job.” He further said that they have requested the administration to provide staff according to the need but to no avail.
Another source told The Spokesman that the admin has allocated fewer staff in the evening shift as compared to the morning because of the misconception that the number of patients is fewer than in the morning. A lady who was waiting along with her daughter told The Spokesman that “The crowd here does not seem to be moving and I don’t know how the staff is treating the patients inside the x-ray room, as they are taking too long to treat just one patient”.
When contacted, PIMS Executive Director Professor Riaz Ahmed Warraich confirmed the shortage of staff in the city's biggest hospital. “We have an issue regarding manpower and we have also published advertisements in newspapers but due to the latest ban on recruitment imposed by the election commission, it was a futile effort. Now again we have requested the election commission to grant us a relaxation in this regard,” Professor Riaz said.

Difficult wait for test reports at PIMS

• Monday, 11 February 2013

Photo by the Author

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Patients and their attendants have to wait for hours in a queue to get their medical tests report from the General Report Section where only three persons are treating them and it looks like the management or the executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has no concern over the situation.
The largest hospital in the federal capital is relying on only three men to treat a crowd of people who visit the hospital every day to get the test reports of their patients but they are forced to wait for hours in queue to get the reports. Asif Khan, who was standing in a line to collect the report of her younger sister who was admitted in Surgical Ward, said “I am waiting in this line for almost two hours to get report but the queue doesn’t seem to be moving, a person who came an hour earlier than me is still in the row."
Abdul Rauf was also waiting to get the test report of his father, admitted in Nephrology Ward. He said, “I was told to collect the reports of my father yesterday and I waited here for almost three hours for my turn but then I was informed that the section is closing and I may wait for the next shift to come or to get the report tomorrow, and you can see today again I am in the row and the situation seems to be repeating same as yesterday.”
An official from the Laboratory Section requesting anonymity confirmed that only two to three persons are handling the patient reports. “Every day we treat thousands of patients who sometime get furious while waiting in the row and argue with us but the situation is out of our control as we need more staff here to handle the patient reports. We need more staff here to deal with the crowd,” the official stated.
He said various times they have requested the administration to provide them more staff but they always advise us to manage with the same staff. When contacted, PIMS spokesperson Waseem Khawaja told The Spokesman that, “Yes there are long queues of people outside the Reports Reception but it never happen that a patient or person do not get the report.”
“The number of staff may be increased in case a written application is forwarded to the administration regarding the issue, but no one has complained to us about the issue yet. But again it depends upon the administration to either itself take notice of the issue or not,” he said.

Yearnings of a perfume seller who doesn’t know her age

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Photo by Homer Baloch

Homer Baloch

ISLAMABAD: If you ever visit the Aabpara Sunday Bazaar, you will see a shy girl covered with a shawl, selling perfumes outside the bazaar. At the first glance, she gives a rough and tough look, but conversations with her have revealed a stark similarity with the yearnings of any other girl of her age.
Farzana is not even sure about how old she is. Age is not important in the background she has come from. However she is sure that she's not as old as she looks – thanks the hard times she has gone through.
Her biggest concern is how to earn enough in a day to support her family consisting of her old parents and a married brother. Her brother, Naimat, is attached with the same business of perfume selling but is much experienced as according to her, he is selling perfumes since she was an infant.
From the beginning of her day until the sunset, she earns almost 500 rupees from this business, which is though not enough to support them, but better enough than nothing. She says several times she tried to put her business inside the Sunday Bazaar area as that is more secure and prominent than the footpath but it costs Rs. 500 per day which almost her total earning. She says if she gets inside and pays the rent then what will be left back to be taken at home, where her poor father and old mother are expecting her to bring enough money that can get them proper food and medicine.
Going through the hardness of the day, Farzana rejoices her work, not caring about her health as she was found coughing all the time she was talking. The place where she has placed her stall has no proper shade or covering area to protect her from sunlight and cold but she has no other free place in view where she can be protected as well as earn.
Her eyes were brightened when she began telling about her life. She said she is living in a rural area of Islamabad along with her parents. Her brother is married and living somewhere else with his family, and is running the same business of perfumes in Rawalpindi. She said though her brother is contributing his earning with her family but that is not enough to overcome their expenses.
When asked about selling perfumes, instead of garments or jewelry like other women stall holders inside the market, she replied that the main reason is that she has seen her brother selling perfumes since she was born, and secondly her mother did the same business for many years but left when she turned old and is now seriously ill. She had to replace her mother to run the business and their life circle.
Farzana is satisfied with her work, but not with society as according to her working women are not welcome. She said everyday she faces different kind of people, some pretend to be nice but most of the men visit her stall not to buy perfumes but to tease her when they see a girl selling perfumes at the footpath. When she was asked about complaining to the police, she blamed the police for not being concerned about such issues, and she cannot even tell her family about is as they will ban her working and incase they did, it will be very hard for them to live as they do not have enough financial support. She said she has learned how to treat those misbehavers but still, it is very hard for a woman to work outside.
She said she has sold thousands of perfumes, but the fragrance of her life will come when she gets married and that, too, to an educated man, as she herself is illiterate, who will take her out of her misery and help her become successful.

3G Scam:

Termination of 3G consultant inquired

• Saturday, 09 February 2013

Homer Baloch

Islamabad: The Australian high commission has sent a letter to the Pakistani Authorities seeking the reason behind the cancelation of the contract of Australian consultant, who was hired by PTA for 3G technology’s launch in Pakistan.

The letter was delivered to Ministry of Foreign Affairs few days ago, demanding he reason behind the termination of the contract of Mr. Rob Nicholls and inquiring over the future planning of PTA regarding 3G licensing. The letter was forwarded to the Ministry of Information and later, the ministry further sent it to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for further proceedings, but the PTA is yet to reply.

An official of PTA requesting anonymity stated that the delay is being made by the PTA authorities because only chairman of the organization is authorised to reply to such letters but currently no one is chairing the authority as the previous chairman had been sacked by Lahore High Court, and the other two members of the authority were not authorised to respond to it. The Spokesman has also learnt that the members namely Nasrul Karim member finance and Dr Siddiq Khawr Khokhar member technical are also not paying much heed to the issue as the contracts had been given to the foreign consultants by then chairman Farooq Awan without taking them into confidence.

Rob Nicholls, the Australian national was hired along with two other consultants, Martin Sims of UK, and Dennis Ward of Canada, by then PTA chairman Farooq Ahmad Awan. An amount of 70 million PKR was supposed to be distributed among the consultants, and was to be delivered within three months according to the contract they signed. The consultants visited Pakistan in November to inspect the market situation about launching of 3G, but in the middle of December 2012 when these consultants were off to their Christmas celebrations, Farooq Awan cancelled their contracts without giving any reason. 

The amount including 15% of advance payment which they were supposed to be given was also halted by directives of the chairman. Later the chairman himself was removed on 15th January by the orders of Lahore High Court for his illegal appointment.

Initially, 51 applications were received by PTA in which 24 were declared irrelevant, and nine applications were shortlisted among the remaining 27. PTA then finally selected three applicants for four jobs including Rob Nicholls for Valuation Advisor and Spectrum Regulatory Policy Advisor, Dennis Ward for Spectrum Auction Design Advisor, and Martin Sims for Auctioneer, Auction Software Advisor, The Spokesman has learnt reliably. 

When contacted, an official from Australian high commission has confirmed sending of the letter to the ministry but avoided giving further details.

The members of National Assembly’s standing committee on Information Technology were majorly found unaware of the issue while chairman of the committee Ch Muhammad Barjees Tahir told The Spokesman that this issue can be discussed in their upcoming meetings. 

According to sources, the issue occurred due to the misunderstanding and lack of communication between the then chairman PTA and the members of its advisory board as the members were uninformed by the chairman about publishing of advertisement, selection of applicants and awarding of contracts. It has also been found out that the chairman had fired the consultants because he was facing a threat of NAB accountability about awarding the contract of millions to the consultants.

Aabpara Market without parking space

• Saturday, 09 February 2013

Photo by Author

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Despite the fact that the concerned authorities should provide proper parking area to the people visiting markets, the visitors have no other choice but to park vehicles on roadside or empty area near Aabpara market as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) could not open the planned parking area on time.
The main commercial hub of the capital turns into a crowded place when a large number of people visit every evening but they find it hard to park their vehicles as the market has no proper place or space for the parking. Ikhlaaq Ahmad, a visitor, told The Spokesman that, “I came here to buy some medicines but it took me almost 10 minutes to find a space to park my vehicle as the market has no proper place for parking.”
He said that the slot allocated on the other side of road for parking was insufficient. Ali Ahmad, another visitor, stated, “I had to park my car far away from the shop I needed to visit because I did not get any space nearby that shop, and it looks like the concerned authorities has no planning to facilitate citizens.”
All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajiraan Vice President Muhammad Ajmal Baloch told The Spokesman that the traders were also facing problems regarding parking slots as they also need to park their vehicles at market. He said that the issue would be solved as a new parking area in the market would be opened for the public in the next week, and hopefully, the CDA chairman himself would inaugurate it.
“Every day I park my vehicle at the residential area which is close to Aabpara because it was turning very hard for me to find a parking space near my shop daily. There are many other shopkeepers who are either somehow managing to park their vehicles nearby their shops or in market, or are turning towards the residential area for this purpose,” said Rashid Ali, a shopkeeper of the market. A traffic official requesting anonymity told The Spokesman that the parking issue in Aabpara has caused a big problem regarding traffic because many of the visitors park their vehicle close to road which disturbed the whole traffic system. A few years ago, the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) had requested CDA to allot a parking area to shift out the burden on roads, and the civic body then had announced the parking area but the project could not be finalized due to some internal politics.

CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said that opening of the new parking area in Aabpara was delayed due to some internal issues of the civic authority regarding the approval. But soon, he said it would be opened for the public parking and the parking issue would be resolved soon.

Saidpoor village's transportation:

Capital’s rich village has poor transportation system

• Friday, 08 February 2013

Photo by SALMAN MUSHTAQ for The Spokesman

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: Saidpoor, historically a rich village, is located at the foothill of Margalla near F-6 Sector where a few years back the village was renovated into a model one with major development carried out by the civic authority. Since, a number of posh hotel chains have opened up; however, the residents are still deprived of adequate transportation facilities.
The population consisting almost 3,000 people is not provided any direct route from their town to the major markets of the capital like Aabpara, G-7, G-8, and most interestingly Jinnah Super which located very next to this village, makes the situation regrettable. Most of the people in the rural community are doing low income jobs and every morning they have to go to the capital city for their work, for which they need to change two to three public transportation vehicles to reach their work place on time which irks the movers with a loss of time and money.
Rustam Ali, a resident of the model village, told The Spokesman that a lot of students and working people like him were living in this area by sharing a room or a place as the areas nearby were very expensive to live. “We are finding it very difficult to reach our offices and other places on time because we are not provided any direct route to the main commercial areas of the city,” he said.
Rawalpindi-Islamabad Transport Association Chairman Sultan Awan told The Spokesman that keeping the recent high rise in fuel prices in view it looks difficult to provide a new transportation route to the areas where the transporters could not get passengers in numbers. “It is true that people in those areas are facing problems regarding their transportation. Though few vans are running between Peshawar Morr and Margalla road but still they usually hire a cab to reach their nearest Super Market in F-6 to get to a further route for G-6 and other sectors,” he said.
When contacted, an authorised person of the Capital Territory told The Spokesman that ICT allots new transportation to any area when its residents register application but no one has registered any application to us yet. “It is the first time that someone has contacted us about transportation issue of the cultural village,” he said.

Congo virus patient:

Congo virus patient recovering fast at PIMS

• Thursday, 07 February 201

Homer Baloch

ISLAMABAD: Rabia, the 26-year-old NADRA employee and only of and Congo virus patient is recovering in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. A resident of TNT Colony, Rabia was admitted in PIMS a few days ago because of fever, initially assumed as dengue fever.
Her medical report was sent to a private lab to check the presence of dengue virus in her blood cells, but later the report was tested at National Institute of Health which revealed that she was suffering from the Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever. An attendant told The Spokesman that at first the doctors did not allow them to stay with Rabia because of the risk of contamination. A doctor on duty on Wednesday said that at the time of her admission, the platelets of her blood were nil. The Spokesman also learnt that two days ago some men from NIH also visited the patient’s home to inspect the area to find any clue of her infection.
When contacted, Dr Jamal Zafar, head of Medicine Department in PIMS told The Spokesman that “Normally there are only 10 to 20 percent chances of the recovery and survival of the patient from this fatal disease, but she has survived and is not critical now”. 

35 Madrsa Students poisoned in Seerat Conference

Wednesday, 06 February 2013

Photo by Homer Baloch

Homer Baloch

Islamabad: About 35 students of various Madrassas attaneding a National Seerat Conference organized by Qoumi Seerat Council Pakistan at Jinnah convention center Islamabad were rushed to Federal Government Services Hospital (Poly Clinic) after eating the poisonous food here on Wednesday.

By the time of filing majority of the students were released after initial treatment by doctors while 15 were still under observation out of which two were considered critical, informed the hospital authorities attending the emergency. These Students were attending a Milad Ceremony where at the end of the conference food was served courtesy Muslim Hands and soon after eating the food from disposable packages, students started complaining about dizziness, while others started vomiting and fainting.
The cuisine arrangements were supervised by Sayyed Zia Ul Noor, The Secretary General of by Qoumi Seerat Council Pakistan under his organization namely, Muslim Hands. While most of the affected students hail from Jamia Dar al Uloom Mohammadiya Ghosia of Chakk Shahzad.

The Milad was arranged under the provision of Sahabzada Peer Muhammad Noor ul Haq Qadri where Chairman Sebnate Nayyar Bukhari was the chief guest while many prominent political and religious figures were in presence including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Senetor Ishaaq Dar, Dr. Farooq Sattar and Sardar Attique.

Dr. Jasim, the doctor on duty told The Spokesman that the students were brought here after four hours of the incident and most of the affected patients were throwing blood with vomiting and suffering loose motions. Some of the patients who were less affected were discharged after initial treatment but a few others along with two critical will remain in the hospital till morning and the decision of discharging them will depend upon their medical reports.

When contacted, Sayyed Zia ul Noor told The Spokesman that all the participants and attendants enjoyed the same food and none of them complained. He told the students got sick due to their overeating and the situation is under control now.

Authorities asleep over Embassies' encroachments

• Monday, 04 February 2013

Homer Baloch

ISLAMABAD: A number of foreign embassies have encroached upon public land in the residential areas of the federal capital, violating the bye laws of the Capital Development Authority, which is criminally silent on the issue. Although foreign missions have been allotted the entire sector of G-5, known as the 'Diplomatic Enclave' to construct their embassies, a number have established their offices outside the designated area over various pretexts.
“I have been appointed at this building for last six to eight months. We are here on a temporary basis as our new building in the diplomatic area is under construction”, said a security guard at the Kuwaiti Embassy in sector F-7 which has barricaded the surrounding area including the public footpath.
The state Immunity Ordinance 1981 clearly mentions that according to Section 86-A (1) c, a suit may lie against the diplomatic agent if he “indulges in any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent in Pakistan outside his official’s functions”.
The city's residential areas of F-6, F-7, F-8 and G-6 are replete with offices and houses of diplomatic missions which can be recognized by their grotesque high concrete walls and barbed wire fences which are a hindrance to pedestrians as they are located outside the respective compounds.
“We have placed the barricades here for our safety. I know neither about any order given by IHC about this sort of encroachment, nor any CDA official has arrived here yet to inspect us”, said a security person at the Portuguese embassy while pointing at the barricades placed on the footpath outside their boundary wall.
The Spokesman also witnessed barricades and concrete walls constructed at the footpaths by the embassies of Greece and Czech Republic respectively. “We have arranged the barricades here for our safety. Previously these were partially covering the road in front of the embassy, but later we removed the obstacles as Islamabad High Court ordered”, said a person at Greek Embassy.
None of the concerned authorities were ready to own the issue of encroachments and shifted the blame to other officials.
Absolving the CDA of being responsible for checking encroachments, spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said “the Foreign Office is the authority that handles the issues related to the diplomatic offices and it reviews the allotments in diplomatic enclave".
“We are also inconvenienced with the illegal construction of the embassies but we are waiting for court orders as we were given in the past to remove these sorts of encroachments. But barricades' removal does not come under our purview and should be tackled by the Islamabad Capital Territory administration”, he added.
Although the Foreign Office acknowledged being responsible for security issues of the embassies, it claimed that the encroachments fall under the purview of CDA and it should check whether any rules are being broken.
When contacted, An authorized person from Czech Republic embassy told the spokesman that, “We are officially allowed by the Foreign Office to place barricades and security arrangements outside their territory and there is nothing illegal in it”, while on the other hand, an authority from Omani embassy said It is the Islamabad Police who has installed the barricade and they have no connections with the its placement. 

Waste management system:

PIMS lacks waste management system

• Monday, 04 February 2013

HOMER BALOCH

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the largest hospital in the federal capital, has no more waste burning incinerator since the waste treatment machines have been dysfunctional for years.
The PIMS management has failed to arrange a proper system to dispose of the waste materials despite the fact that thousands of patients are being treated in the hospital. Instead of having its own waste management system, the hospital is shifting its waste to the neighbourhood city for disposal.
An official, requesting not to be named, has confirmed the improper treatment of the waste by the PIMS administration. “It is true that there is not a single waste burning machine in a working order,” he said, adding that the issue has been raised by the administration with the Ministry of Health before its devolution, but all in vain.
When contacted, an official of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that the waste of the capital’s hospital was not being disposed of properly. “The hospital must have its own waste management system,” he suggested. Waseem Khawaja, a spokesperson for PIMS, said that the waste was being sent to the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi where it was being disposed of properly. He said that the new incinerators would be installed soon but he could not give the timeframe about it.
In 2010, four incinerators were installed when the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had approved Rs 115 million to save the cost of 50,000 which was being spent to dispose of the 1200 kilograms waste in the Holy Family Hospital. The incinerators, soon after the installation, became dysfunctional due to the negligence and carelessness of the hospital management.
The incinerator of the Holy Family Hospital was built by keeping the needs of Rawalpindi hospitals in view, but the increased daily junk coming from PIMS is out of its capacity and causing an over burden on it. The remaining waste which is not being treated by the Holy Family is being disposed of in open drains, The Spokesman has learnt.

Health sector:

Low-capacity PIMS burns centre turning patients away

• Sunday, 03 February 2013

The Spokesman photo by SALMAN MUSHTAQ

Homer Baloch

ISLAMABAD: The 20-bed Burns Care Center in Pakistan Institute of Medical Scientists has started refusing to accept more patients owing to a severe lack of space. The center can only stretch itself to accommodating up to 25 to 30 patients.
Ever since the center opened in 2007, no effort has been made to increase its capacity. An insider has revealed that the situation is so dire that eight stretchers are placed in a room with a capacity of barely four. “The exceeding number of patients can lead to various infections which, in turn, can worsen the condition of the in-patients,” he feared.
When contacted, BCC head Dr Tariq Iqbal confirmed that they were handling more patients than their strength, but he hoped that the issue could be resolved if the authorities paid attention to it. Many patients coming from the KP and Punjab are unable to be admitted owing to lack of rooms, he added. "Everyone wants to come here as the otherwise costly burn treatment is free of cost here," he added further.
He further suggested that if well facilitated burns centers are made in every well populated city, specifically in Rawalpindi and Peshawar, their burden can subside considerably. It is pertinent to mention here that immediate treatment of a burn victim is crucial to counter the injury and most patients lose that time while travelling to hospitals.
A resident of Attock, Shamim Akhtar, was found helpless outside the burns center as her young son, whose lower half had been burned badly, was refused admission.
"I first went to the local hospital in Attock where they treated my son as much as they could but suggested that I go to Islamabad for proper treatment". Upon arriving here at noon, the burn center dressed the wounds but did not admit my son, saying that they didn't have a single bed available. "We are poor people, the journey cost so much money but even then they did not admit my son. We'll go back now and pray to Allah, as that's all we can do," she lamented.