My attention has been drawn to an article: UNITED STATES: DRAMATIC POLITICAL REACH-OUT TO MYANMAR, A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE, published in a website for the South Asian Strategy Group by one of its analysts Subhash Kapila (http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers35%5Cpaper3470.html). The group claims to be a non-profit and non-commercial think tank, with a declared objective to advance strategic analysis and contribute to the expansion of knowledge of Indian and International security and promote public understanding. It does not mention who pays for the group. However, a close look at its many publications make it amply clear that it is possibly a front for the RAW, working towards Indo-centric strategies to influence the decision makers, strategic planners, academics and the media in South Asia and the world at large. As such, anything published from the SAAG ought to be taken with much caution.
Idealism has never been important to India and many such hegemonic powers of our time. They were always willing to sacrifice such at the altar of self-interest. Thus, it was not unnatural for India to tie her knots with the SPDC regime, and other previous military dictators of Burma. In recent years, since 9/11, she has also tied her dirty hands with Israel and the USA to stop Chinese influence in the region. Yes, China has relationship with Burma - where there are more similarities than oddities for China. China also has strong relationship with Sri Lanka, where she is building a huge naval base. China has also been a trusted (a term which is increasingly becoming obsolete these days of geo-political self-interest) friend of Pakistan, which sees herself cornered by Indo-Israeli sphere of influence in Afghanistan. But then there are still some 'neutral' countries in the region - like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, where if the USA were to be serious about containing Chinese influence she would have a much better case to make that strategic inroad. (The USA, much in contrast to Kapila's theory, need not reach out to Myanmar if it is serious about an eastward strategic imperative!)
But as we have seen for last few decades, the US interest has revolved around its own national security which is dependent on uninterrupted flow of oil to not only the USA but also its major allies - the European (more specifically the NATO) countries, and to some extent Japan. However, since the turn-around from Indo-China in the 1970s, the USA has not paid due attention to the eastward flow of oil through the Malacca Channel, concentrating more on the westward flow of oil from the Middle East. It is highly unlikely that under the Obama Administration we shall see a change in that strategy.
Oil or energy has decisively become very important for the survival of all developed and developing nations. China, for her own self-interest, wants to ensure the easiest and cheapest route for that inflow of oil. Shipment by sea is always much cheaper than over land. That is why China is more concerned about any shipment that would guarantee a cheaper flow of oil to her territories. The Sino-Myanmar relationship is built on that simple equation, and so do many other similar relationships in Africa, where China, followed by India, is buying millions of hectares of land, exploring oil and gas, and developing infrastructure to penetrate those markets.
Nor should we forget that the two major wars of this century owe themselves to oil. Had the Taliban government agreed to the the interest of the US oil companies in the closing days of Clinton and early days of Bush Jr., we may never have witnessed Afghanistan being attacked by the USA, whether or not 9/11 ever took place.
Kapila's analysis is a flawed one. Nowhere in his article did I get a hint of anything remotely stating that the USA had reached out to Myanmar. (If I am mistaken I would like to be corrected.) Many such analysts are basically working for the RAW to make a case for India, aiming to broaden India's hegemonic sphere of influence. Obviously, they know that as a poor country with much trouble spewing in the northeast corner, India on her own can't do it alone, she needs a big brother like the USA watching her back, so that in case of any tug of war with China, she could lean onto that brother. Kapila therefore conveniently ignores or leaves aside other better alternatives for the US strategy, and instead tries to pull her to tying her knots with the hated Myanmar regime.
The kowtowing of the so-called democratic Indian government with the brutal SPDC military oligarch has been nothing but a shameful and criminal display of self-interest that has resulted in prolonging the lifeline of the hated regime. India has no excuse for her despicable role in strengthening Myanmar. The hegemonic powers like that should not be trusted by anyone craving for human rights and fair play.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Comments on my previous article relating to Fort Hood violence
Soon after publication of my article on "Is America on a Wrong Track?", New Age, November 11, 2009, a reader, long known for his despicable cultural alienated attitude towards anything Islamic or Muslim wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper with a copy to me. In that he equated the act of the shooter in the Fort Hoot, TX army camp with criminal activities of suicide bombers of the Taliban. He, like his past observations, drew inappropriate and flawed conclusions by confusing symptoms with causes. My editorial piece far from going after the symptoms of the violence, now widespread especially amongst the members of the Armed Forces of the USA, pointed out the root cause, which is the never-ending war that was unleashed by former President George W. Bush. War is stressful and can lead to PTSD, or more correctly, post-war disorder.
No Muslim takes the loss or killing of life lightly since the Qur'an could not have been more explicit on this matter when some 14 centuries ago it declared - "Whoever kills a human being... then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a human life it is as though he had saved all mankind."
What the Army doctor is allegedly reported to have done in Fort Hood, TX is criminal and condemnable. But to equate his alleged activity with that of a suicide bomber from the Taliban or al-Qaeda is debatable, if not utterly wrong, to say the least. Many of the U.S. war veterans, almost 40 percent, are now known to exhibit PTSD syndrome. While psychiatrists like the alleged killer are the ones who try to bring mental balance amongst the sufferers of this syndrome, studies have confirmed that thus far within the US Army, adequate attention to the very mental health of these providers - the doctors - has been missing. Many of these doctors can exhibit temporary insanity at any moment. If this simple fact was not clear to that reader, a talk with a psychiatrist, mental health expert, can help clear his ignorance.
What was also so hilarious was his proposing Gandhi's so-called non-violent method as a solution. I won't dwell upon this suggestion here since it is a very controversial subject in its own merit. Suffice it to say that the events leading to Gandhi's own assassination and the never-ending history of communal riots inside India do show very clearly that the method has not worked perfectly at its own source to remove the curse of violence that has been plaguing the country in the last 62 years. The reader's assertion about the success of Gandhi's fasting shows his ignorance of the history of the time.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune by Zeenat Rahman agreed with my conclusions about the harmful effects of PTSD on many war veterans. But I was very disturbed reading some of the comments posted by bigots. One bigot questioned how could the shooter suffer from PTSD since he had not gone to the battlefield. True that the alleged shooter did not go to the battlefield, but anyone who is familiar with psychiatry would testify that these professionals are under tremendous mental stress. As human beings, many a time they are vulnerable to PTSD by simply listening and trying to help their victims. A prolonged war like the one we are seeing in Afghanistan and Iraq is now known to contribute PTSD syndrome amongst many war veterans. Very few can claim to be totally immune from its caustic effect.
Another bigot claimed that it was the violent passages in the Qur'an that was responsible for the shooting, i.e., the Islamic religion is violent by design. Let me state very clearly to such holier-than-thou bigots that if they are searching for such passages, they need not go beyond their own scriptures before passing judgment on the Qur'an. They simply have to study the Bible!
Ref: http://newsblogs. chicagotribune. com/religion_ theseeker/ 2009/11/zeenat- rahman-specter- of-fear-detracts -from-real- issues-.html
http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/11/edit.html#2
No Muslim takes the loss or killing of life lightly since the Qur'an could not have been more explicit on this matter when some 14 centuries ago it declared - "Whoever kills a human being... then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a human life it is as though he had saved all mankind."
What the Army doctor is allegedly reported to have done in Fort Hood, TX is criminal and condemnable. But to equate his alleged activity with that of a suicide bomber from the Taliban or al-Qaeda is debatable, if not utterly wrong, to say the least. Many of the U.S. war veterans, almost 40 percent, are now known to exhibit PTSD syndrome. While psychiatrists like the alleged killer are the ones who try to bring mental balance amongst the sufferers of this syndrome, studies have confirmed that thus far within the US Army, adequate attention to the very mental health of these providers - the doctors - has been missing. Many of these doctors can exhibit temporary insanity at any moment. If this simple fact was not clear to that reader, a talk with a psychiatrist, mental health expert, can help clear his ignorance.
What was also so hilarious was his proposing Gandhi's so-called non-violent method as a solution. I won't dwell upon this suggestion here since it is a very controversial subject in its own merit. Suffice it to say that the events leading to Gandhi's own assassination and the never-ending history of communal riots inside India do show very clearly that the method has not worked perfectly at its own source to remove the curse of violence that has been plaguing the country in the last 62 years. The reader's assertion about the success of Gandhi's fasting shows his ignorance of the history of the time.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune by Zeenat Rahman agreed with my conclusions about the harmful effects of PTSD on many war veterans. But I was very disturbed reading some of the comments posted by bigots. One bigot questioned how could the shooter suffer from PTSD since he had not gone to the battlefield. True that the alleged shooter did not go to the battlefield, but anyone who is familiar with psychiatry would testify that these professionals are under tremendous mental stress. As human beings, many a time they are vulnerable to PTSD by simply listening and trying to help their victims. A prolonged war like the one we are seeing in Afghanistan and Iraq is now known to contribute PTSD syndrome amongst many war veterans. Very few can claim to be totally immune from its caustic effect.
Another bigot claimed that it was the violent passages in the Qur'an that was responsible for the shooting, i.e., the Islamic religion is violent by design. Let me state very clearly to such holier-than-thou bigots that if they are searching for such passages, they need not go beyond their own scriptures before passing judgment on the Qur'an. They simply have to study the Bible!
Ref: http://newsblogs. chicagotribune. com/religion_ theseeker/ 2009/11/zeenat- rahman-specter- of-fear-detracts -from-real- issues-.html
http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/11/edit.html#2
Sunday, November 8, 2009
American Economy, Election and Endless Wars
Is America on a wrong track? Is the Obama administration failing to fulfill people’s aspirations and expectations?
In Wednesday, Oct. 28, a 26-year-old soldier from Fort Carson, Colorado set to return to Afghanistan intentionally shot himself in the shoulder to avoid deployment. On Nov. 5, a 39-year-old army psychiatrist, who had faced repeated harassment for his ethnicity and faith from his fellow soldiers, shot dead 13 people at the "Soldier Readiness Center" in Fort Hood, Texas, military base. He was opposed to the war and upset about his impending deployment to Afghanistan. This tragedy once again shows how the very individuals that are trained to help victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are themselves losing their own mental balance. Suicide and killings amongst returning soldiers from their duties in Iraq and Afghanistan are at an all time high now. Researchers report that the rate of PTSD and other mental difficulties tied to war may be as high as 35%.
On Friday morning, Nov. 6, a 15-year-old boy shot a 17-year-old fellow student with a history of bullying the young shooter on a school bus in west Philadelphia. The same day a 40-year-old fired engineer opened fire in the offices of an engineering firm where he was let go more than two years ago killing one person and injuring five others. Just a few days ago a young man, in his early twenties, shot himself to death in my neighborhood. My neighbors told me that he had difficulty coping with stresses of life.
While the stock market has picked up, allowing some investors to recover losses suffered during the last couple of years, and the country appears to be pulling out of the recession, a full economic recovery may not happen anytime soon. The unemployment number is really bad in the world's biggest economy! In a fresh sign of financial misery at grassroots level, in October it rose to 10.2% from September's 9.8%, reaching its highest level since April 1983. Monthly figures from the US department of labor revealed that employers cut a higher-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October. There is a hiring freeze with many big corporations, especially for skilled workers. If any company is hiring, they want to hire for less pay. It seems it will take at least three years to recover the lost jobs.
It is not difficult, therefore, to understand why for the first time under President Obama, majority of Americans says the U.S.A. is on the wrong track (Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted Oct. 22-25, 2009). Fifty-two percent say the country is on the wrong track compared to 36% who say it is headed in the right direction with 9% saying conditions are mixed and 3% undecided. President Obama's job approval rating stands at 51%, the same number it had been during the previous two months. But the approval ratio for his handling of the economy has slid down from 51 in September to 47% in October. Forty-nine percent are very dissatisfied with the state of the economy and another 31% are somewhat dissatisfied. Seventeen percent are somewhat satisfied and only 2% are very satisfied. What is also worrisome is that 58% percent say that worst has not yet come. Twenty-nine percent believe the economy has bottomed out. Forty-two percent believe things will get better in the next 12 months compared to 33% who say they will stay the same and 22% who predict things will be worse. Sixty-three percent believe that current conditions are due to factors President Obama inherited while 20% say he is responsible for them. Well, one can surmise that a majority of those 20% were die-hard Republicans who still refuse to come to terms with the mess that George W. had left the country with.
Predictably, Bob McDonnell led a Republican sweep in Virginia on Tuesday night defeating the democratic contender in the gubernatorial race. So did the Republican Chris Christie who won the New Jersey governor's race, defeating the incumbent Jon Corzine. The latter seemed to have run out of ideas other than raising taxes to balance a looming $8 billion state budget deficit. The state also had an alarming 9.7% unemployment rate. President Obama’s multiple visits to rally Democrats to Corzine's side did not help. As can be seen, however, from a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, conducted on Monday, just a day before the election, the defeat was by no means a verdict on Obama’s presidency. The poll found 68% saying the country was heading in the right direction while only 34% saying that about New Jersey.
The WSJ/NBC poll numbers are equally bad for the Congress and on other burning issues. For example, 65% disapprove of the job Congress is doing compared to 24% who approve with 11% undecided. On health care, 42% say the reform plan Obama is pushing is a bad idea, 38% say it's a good idea and 16% have no opinion, with another 4% unsure. Forty-five percent say it is better to pass his plan compared to 39% who disagree. Forty-eight percent disapprove Obama's handling of the health care issue while 43% approve with 9 percent undecided, a ratio that has grown more negative since last month. On foreign affairs, the public approves of his handling of this area by 51% to 39% with 10% undecided. On Afghanistan, Americans support a troop increase by 47% to 43% with 10% undecided. However, when asked about specifics about increasing the number of troops, Americans oppose sending large contingents of troops, and nowhere close to the number requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan. The public is divided at 45% each on the option of withdrawing nearly all troops and using Predator drones and Special Forces to attack al Qaeda camps.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost some 5,000 dead American soldiers, a trillion dollars, and a divided America facing an endless war. General McChrystal needs at least another 40,000 soldiers to avoid the risk of "mission failure" in Afghanistan. Pakistan, which sided with the USA in Afghanistan, now has a war of her own to fight inside. As if these were not enough of a wakeup call to revise America’s interventionist policies, Israel and its powerful lobby are trying to push America to open yet another warfront with Iran. It goes without saying that Israel has mastered the art of exploiting regional instability to prolong her illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.
On Nov. 3, the House of Representatives passed H.Res.867, condemning the Report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (known informally as the Goldstone Report) as "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy," by a vote of 344 to 36 with 22 abstentions. Through its vote, the U.S. Congress has once again proven that it has lost moral compass and is too reluctant even in the post-Bush era to shed its image as Israel’s “Amen Corner.” As the current events have also proven the Obama administration is simply impotent against Israel. It is not difficult to understand why Mahmoud Abbas will not seek re-election.
President Obama is now under tremendous pressure to decide as to what to do with Bush’s Global War on Terror. His anti-war supporters, the independents -- who played the decisive role in the last year’s election to put him to the White House, are noticing how he is failing them, compromising at every step to please the war party. Will he embrace the same fate as President Johnson? Will he just be a one-time president?
For those of us who are tired of America’s pyrrhic wars, not everything is lost. On Nov. 4, an Italian court convicted 22 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force colonel of orchestrating the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003 and flying him to Egypt where he was allegedly tortured. The Americans were all tried in absentia. A Milan prosecutor said his office would seek to have them extradited from the United States, but a formal decision will be made later by the Italian Justice Ministry. The case is the only instance in which CIA operatives have faced a criminal trial for the controversial tactic of extraordinary rendition, under which terrorism suspects are seized in one country and forcibly transported to another without judicial oversight. The verdict, first of its kind, sends a strong signal against the crimes of the CIA and puts the so-called Global War on Terror on trial. A similar case involving a German citizen kidnapped in the Balkans has resulted in arrest warrants and a civil lawsuit but has not gone to trial.
These are some of the tell tale signs that things are rotting inside America. Seemingly, the American nation is suffering from PTSD. She needs psychiatric help. She needs an overhaul and not false promises. She has to get out of the vicious culture of war that is responsible for her breakdown – mental, moral, social and economical. Until Americans understand that wars are bad for the economy (especially when these are not short-term wars) and are not the prudent ways to promote national security or settle scores on terrorism, they will continue to send warmongers – sold to the military industrial complex -- into power that will prefer war over peaceful resolutions of such problems. If Americans have failed to learn anything from their recent troubles, nothing probably will educate them.
One can only hope that America will have the hindsight to abandon her outdated methods and do things that are morally right, just, fair and lawful. The sooner the better!
In Wednesday, Oct. 28, a 26-year-old soldier from Fort Carson, Colorado set to return to Afghanistan intentionally shot himself in the shoulder to avoid deployment. On Nov. 5, a 39-year-old army psychiatrist, who had faced repeated harassment for his ethnicity and faith from his fellow soldiers, shot dead 13 people at the "Soldier Readiness Center" in Fort Hood, Texas, military base. He was opposed to the war and upset about his impending deployment to Afghanistan. This tragedy once again shows how the very individuals that are trained to help victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are themselves losing their own mental balance. Suicide and killings amongst returning soldiers from their duties in Iraq and Afghanistan are at an all time high now. Researchers report that the rate of PTSD and other mental difficulties tied to war may be as high as 35%.
On Friday morning, Nov. 6, a 15-year-old boy shot a 17-year-old fellow student with a history of bullying the young shooter on a school bus in west Philadelphia. The same day a 40-year-old fired engineer opened fire in the offices of an engineering firm where he was let go more than two years ago killing one person and injuring five others. Just a few days ago a young man, in his early twenties, shot himself to death in my neighborhood. My neighbors told me that he had difficulty coping with stresses of life.
While the stock market has picked up, allowing some investors to recover losses suffered during the last couple of years, and the country appears to be pulling out of the recession, a full economic recovery may not happen anytime soon. The unemployment number is really bad in the world's biggest economy! In a fresh sign of financial misery at grassroots level, in October it rose to 10.2% from September's 9.8%, reaching its highest level since April 1983. Monthly figures from the US department of labor revealed that employers cut a higher-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October. There is a hiring freeze with many big corporations, especially for skilled workers. If any company is hiring, they want to hire for less pay. It seems it will take at least three years to recover the lost jobs.
It is not difficult, therefore, to understand why for the first time under President Obama, majority of Americans says the U.S.A. is on the wrong track (Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted Oct. 22-25, 2009). Fifty-two percent say the country is on the wrong track compared to 36% who say it is headed in the right direction with 9% saying conditions are mixed and 3% undecided. President Obama's job approval rating stands at 51%, the same number it had been during the previous two months. But the approval ratio for his handling of the economy has slid down from 51 in September to 47% in October. Forty-nine percent are very dissatisfied with the state of the economy and another 31% are somewhat dissatisfied. Seventeen percent are somewhat satisfied and only 2% are very satisfied. What is also worrisome is that 58% percent say that worst has not yet come. Twenty-nine percent believe the economy has bottomed out. Forty-two percent believe things will get better in the next 12 months compared to 33% who say they will stay the same and 22% who predict things will be worse. Sixty-three percent believe that current conditions are due to factors President Obama inherited while 20% say he is responsible for them. Well, one can surmise that a majority of those 20% were die-hard Republicans who still refuse to come to terms with the mess that George W. had left the country with.
Predictably, Bob McDonnell led a Republican sweep in Virginia on Tuesday night defeating the democratic contender in the gubernatorial race. So did the Republican Chris Christie who won the New Jersey governor's race, defeating the incumbent Jon Corzine. The latter seemed to have run out of ideas other than raising taxes to balance a looming $8 billion state budget deficit. The state also had an alarming 9.7% unemployment rate. President Obama’s multiple visits to rally Democrats to Corzine's side did not help. As can be seen, however, from a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, conducted on Monday, just a day before the election, the defeat was by no means a verdict on Obama’s presidency. The poll found 68% saying the country was heading in the right direction while only 34% saying that about New Jersey.
The WSJ/NBC poll numbers are equally bad for the Congress and on other burning issues. For example, 65% disapprove of the job Congress is doing compared to 24% who approve with 11% undecided. On health care, 42% say the reform plan Obama is pushing is a bad idea, 38% say it's a good idea and 16% have no opinion, with another 4% unsure. Forty-five percent say it is better to pass his plan compared to 39% who disagree. Forty-eight percent disapprove Obama's handling of the health care issue while 43% approve with 9 percent undecided, a ratio that has grown more negative since last month. On foreign affairs, the public approves of his handling of this area by 51% to 39% with 10% undecided. On Afghanistan, Americans support a troop increase by 47% to 43% with 10% undecided. However, when asked about specifics about increasing the number of troops, Americans oppose sending large contingents of troops, and nowhere close to the number requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan. The public is divided at 45% each on the option of withdrawing nearly all troops and using Predator drones and Special Forces to attack al Qaeda camps.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost some 5,000 dead American soldiers, a trillion dollars, and a divided America facing an endless war. General McChrystal needs at least another 40,000 soldiers to avoid the risk of "mission failure" in Afghanistan. Pakistan, which sided with the USA in Afghanistan, now has a war of her own to fight inside. As if these were not enough of a wakeup call to revise America’s interventionist policies, Israel and its powerful lobby are trying to push America to open yet another warfront with Iran. It goes without saying that Israel has mastered the art of exploiting regional instability to prolong her illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.
On Nov. 3, the House of Representatives passed H.Res.867, condemning the Report of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (known informally as the Goldstone Report) as "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy," by a vote of 344 to 36 with 22 abstentions. Through its vote, the U.S. Congress has once again proven that it has lost moral compass and is too reluctant even in the post-Bush era to shed its image as Israel’s “Amen Corner.” As the current events have also proven the Obama administration is simply impotent against Israel. It is not difficult to understand why Mahmoud Abbas will not seek re-election.
President Obama is now under tremendous pressure to decide as to what to do with Bush’s Global War on Terror. His anti-war supporters, the independents -- who played the decisive role in the last year’s election to put him to the White House, are noticing how he is failing them, compromising at every step to please the war party. Will he embrace the same fate as President Johnson? Will he just be a one-time president?
For those of us who are tired of America’s pyrrhic wars, not everything is lost. On Nov. 4, an Italian court convicted 22 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force colonel of orchestrating the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003 and flying him to Egypt where he was allegedly tortured. The Americans were all tried in absentia. A Milan prosecutor said his office would seek to have them extradited from the United States, but a formal decision will be made later by the Italian Justice Ministry. The case is the only instance in which CIA operatives have faced a criminal trial for the controversial tactic of extraordinary rendition, under which terrorism suspects are seized in one country and forcibly transported to another without judicial oversight. The verdict, first of its kind, sends a strong signal against the crimes of the CIA and puts the so-called Global War on Terror on trial. A similar case involving a German citizen kidnapped in the Balkans has resulted in arrest warrants and a civil lawsuit but has not gone to trial.
These are some of the tell tale signs that things are rotting inside America. Seemingly, the American nation is suffering from PTSD. She needs psychiatric help. She needs an overhaul and not false promises. She has to get out of the vicious culture of war that is responsible for her breakdown – mental, moral, social and economical. Until Americans understand that wars are bad for the economy (especially when these are not short-term wars) and are not the prudent ways to promote national security or settle scores on terrorism, they will continue to send warmongers – sold to the military industrial complex -- into power that will prefer war over peaceful resolutions of such problems. If Americans have failed to learn anything from their recent troubles, nothing probably will educate them.
One can only hope that America will have the hindsight to abandon her outdated methods and do things that are morally right, just, fair and lawful. The sooner the better!
Monday, November 2, 2009
My interview with the Energy & Power: Delayed Decision Stimulates Energy Sector Corruption
My interview with Mollah Amzad Hossain, Editor of the Energy & Power magazine, vol. 7, issue 9, Nov. 2, 2009 (http://www.ep-bd.com/news.php?id=373) can be read below:
Too many things are seemingly wrong with Bangladesh’s energy sector. Bangladesh lacks the right people in right place to making the right decision at the right time. It has failed not only to attract its skilled expatriates to return and take the mantle of leadership but also to retain its talented workforce. Outside the mediocrity in the technical and administrative leadership and lack of human resources and infrastructure, corruption is another dynamics that has a caustic and crippling effect on anything that it comes across, thereby adversely hindering the development initiative and smooth functioning of the energy sector. Many investors are compelled to bribe so that they can soften the attitude of bureaucrats and expedite matters in their favor. In that process often times it is the undeserving vendor that is chosen over more qualified ones. So, unless corruption is dealt severely and weeded out, it will continue to create a vicious cycle that breeds corruption and in the process gets sustained from players both within and outside the government.
This is how Dr. Habib Siddiqui, Non-resident Bangladeshi Energy Expert, a 1977 graduate in Chemical Engineering from BUET sketches the horizon in Bangladesh’s energy sector. Dr. Siddiqui has graduate degrees in both chemical and nuclear engineering from some of the leading research and engineering universities in North America. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the prestigious University of Southern California, Los Angeles, doing research in the area of enhanced oil recovery from disordered porous media. His web of technical interest also includes nuclear energy. He is a certified Master Black Belt in Six Sigma who has led deployment initiative within three major U.S. corporations (including Merck & Co., where he was a Director lately). He has authored more than 400 articles on a plethora of subjects from scientific and technical to international politics and human rights.
During his brief visit to Bangladesh, Siddiqui (HS) spoke to Energy & Power (EP) Editor Mollah Amzad Hossain. The following is the excerpt of his interview.
EP: How do you evaluate the crisis of energy in Bangladesh?
HS: Like many other 3rd world countries an efficient private sector has not flourished in Bangladesh. Massive government initiative was essential for the development of energy infrastructure, which could not be done for various reasons and that has kept us far behind many other countries today. What upsets me deeply is when I compare our particular case with that of our neighbour -- Myanmar, a country that is ruled by a ruthless military oligarchy for nearly half a century with the worst record in human rights. They are quite aggressive in their bid to explore petroleum resources in offshore. Side by side, they are active in establishing their right on the maritime boundary by submitting claim with the UNO.
And look at us. We have a longer history of democracy in Bangladesh. We have a more educated and talented technical workforce. Sadly, our government in the last four decades has done a lousy job to establish our rights on the maritime boundary and exploring natural resources. It is slow and shortsighted. We react rather than act. We are therefore always a few steps behind our more aggressive neighbours - India and Myanmar. Bangladesh would have been well positioned to avoiding the mess we find ourselves today, if we were thinking and taking the right initiative for offshore exploration for petroleum resources years ago. The lack of government initiative on our natural resources has been a terrible mistake, slowing our progress.
EP: After the independence, the Bangabandhu Government was the first among the South Asian countries to start offshore exploration for petroleum. What are the reasons for government’s inactions and why we lagged behind compared to our neighbours?
HS: Let’s take Petrobangla. I don’t think its works are transparent. Both Petrobangla and PETRONUS were born almost at the same time. Today you can see where they stand and their positions. The public perception is that Petrobangla has neither the capability nor the courage to take independent decision that is based on sound technical expertise; it is run by political whims. As a result, we the public are skeptical of its role in protecting our national interest. The failure to confront Magurchara and Tengratila blow-outs showcased Petrobangla’s inexcusable inability to deal with those kinds of critical issues of our national interest. The government has failed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of state-owned enterprises. It has also failed to provide incentives that are necessary for the growth of the private sectors.
Now as to your question on why the government has failed, there are many reasons I can cite. However, for our purpose here, I shall try to limit these to a few.
You need a representative government that caters and cares for public interest. It must understand the trust it carries and carry out the task diligently, honestly and transparently. Do we have that kind of government? The unfortunate political changes of 1975 triggered a domino effect that affected negatively each and every sector in our country. Energy sector has also suffered the burnt since then. After taking power, General Ziaur Rahman initiated the process of implanting military bureaucrats in many government-run institutions, including the energy sector companies, a process that was to continue until the end of the Ershad dictatorship. Instead of the people’s representatives, making the energy policy and ensuring that our people gets the best from any deal the bureaucrats in the military and civil administration took total control of the energy sector. With lack of accountability to people, they became corrupt and self-serving. Gradually, corruption got institutionalized over the next 17 years. Consequently, petty personal interests were served and development visions of these institutions were stalled by ignoring technical considerations.
The meritorious and competent professionals found no alternatives but to leave the country. The brain-drain of competent professionals from energy sector was simply alarming, and yet the successive governments didn’t take any initiative to stop this phenomenon. In the last 18 years, the elected governments have spoken about the talented non-resident Bangladeshis, or more correctly, the expatriates, and how they could have enabled technology transfer. But all such were empty talks. I still have not seen any concrete proof of engaging our expatriate experts into reviving the energy sector.
I remember when I was a BUET sophomore or junior discussing about the exploration of coal from northern Bangladesh and utilizing it for power generation in a class project discussion that was initiated by Dr Iqbal Mahmud. And look at it some 30 plus years later, we are nowhere close to mining that coal reserve! That coal remains underground while we complain about lack of power generation!
EP: Who are responsible for that?
HS: Obviously the political leadership. I hold it accountable for our failure in energy security. After Bangabandhu’s death, in all these years of Bangladesh, I have failed to find a single leader who really cared about Bangladesh and its ordinary people – the Salimuddin and Kalimuddins within our society. Every politician today, with rare exceptions, seems to care more about his or her greed. Politics is a vehicle for personal enrichment and victimization of others. These are by all means sure recipes for disaster and not nation-building.
We need a people’s government that truly cares, thinks rationally and is willing to formulate a policy that is built on hard facts and consensus-driven, and is aggressive enough to execute it once a decision is taken. Our past governments have miserably failed to provide proper policy and guidance for the energy sector. This has caused enormous harm to our economy, leaving us behind and almost unprepared to deal with alarming gaping energy shortage.
The bottom line is we need a patriotic political leadership that can initiate a fresh revival. We need right people in the right place making right decisions at the right time. Initiatives must be taken to develop governance, transparency and efficiency with everything we do. We need a healthy working environment that is built on meritocracy, and not sycophancy. We must retain the best of our talented workforce through a reward and recognition system, and enable a process that helps our technical folks to exchange and learn from their more talented and skilled expatriates. We must take lessons from other countries and provide appropriate pay packages to qualified professionals. If we fail in this talent management program, it won’t be too long that Bangladesh would be bereft of its best brains. Already, an alarming 80 to 90% of the best engineers have chosen to leave Bangladesh for bettering their livelihoods.
EP: Does that mean that energy sector development should remain stalled till Bangladesh’s energy sector enterprises and manpower acquires efficiency?
HS: No, I did not mean that. If we could afford to be self-reliant, capable and effective ourselves of doing the right thing, definitely it would have been better for us. But we are nowhere close to that ideal situation.
The globalization factor has completely changed our old thinking. We are forced to find the best alternative fast under the situation we are in. Even a communist country like China has opened all its sectors including energy to foreign investment – and mind that, to capitalist countries – its once-mortal foes. In terms of technology transfer in the energy sector that we are talking about, e.g., oil and coal exploration, Bangladesh is in its infantile stage. It needs someone to grab its tender arm and show it how to walk. That will be a much prudent way than being stupidly self-reliant while we don’t know the basics. Government can play a big role in encouraging both local and foreign investment to vitalize our energy sector.
EP: A section of civil society under the banner of Oil, Gas & Port Protection Committee (OGPC) is opposing open pit coal mining and leasing of offshore blocks to IOCs for exploration. How do you evaluate that?
HS: There are environmentalist groups in many countries, including the USA. They are quite active and protest on matters that seem harmful to them in a peaceful manner and the governments are not too offended by their activism. In these days of the Internet, many of these groups also have a very active petition campaign where individual supporters are asked to write to their elected representatives to oppose something that is controversial. You won’t see there the kind of vandalism that takes place in Bangladesh.
I strongly disagree with what the agitators are doing in Bangladesh. I believe this group is acting against national interest with funding from foreign sources. Our ordinary people, the vast majority, are not behind them. I observe with utter surprise when some University teachers get involved with them. They are not only hindering the development of the energy sector but also causing an image crisis for the country. We must note it. Whose purposes are being served by these agitators who oppose the coal mining and offshore oil and gas exploration? It is really saddening to see that we are not mining our high quality, less environment-polluting coal while we allow poor quality Indian coal polluting our environment. This attitude is simply unbelievable! I suspect that these agitators are basically serving the causes and interests of India, and not of Bangladesh.
EP: Agitators are opposing coal mining and offshore PSC. They are propagating that coal should only be mined after ensuring domestic need. What is your evaluation?
HS: If we like to discuss the PSC agreements, we can do that. Any agreement may have merits and demerits. If any clause of any agreement is found to be compromising national interest after signing of agreement, these can be mitigated always through negotiations. The modern commercial world does not favour arbitrary termination or scrapping of signed agreement. All agreements have inbuilt mechanism how these will be operated. Controversies of any signed agreement have to be resolved through negotiation. Government has to take initiative for that.
On the other hand regarding exploration of natural resources in the offshore, I am being reminded of a story in the Holy Quran. The Prophet Moses (Musa (AS)) had a wonderful encounter with Khidir (AS). The story is mentioned in the Surah al-Kahf. Khidir allowed Musa to accompany him on the condition that he must not ask any question as long he is with him. They went to a town where people did not give them food to eat or water to drink. But on the way, Khidir saw a wall that was on the verge of collapse and he fixed it. This behavior puzzled Musa (AS) who could not keep quite. He asked Khidir why he had fixed the wall. Khidir explained that the property where the wall stood belonged to some orphans whose God-fearing parents had hidden some treasure underneath that wall hoping that when their kids would grow up they would find the hidden treasure. It was God’s wish that such a treasure be not made visible to others before they come of age. So, fearing that collapsing wall might bare the hidden treasure, Khidir fixed the wall.
There is a big lesson in this story of the Qur’an. In contrast to the hidden treasure, the maritime resources of the Bay of Bengal, which is our share, now remains exposed and is getting stolen unless we try to grab which is ours before everything is lost. However, we are not mature enough to do this task ourselves. We need partners that can help us protect our rights. If we wait too long till we acquire capacity to explore and exploit nothing will be left for us. In this context, I am in favour of the initiative for PSC that has been taken to explore it now. We have already made much delay. We must not waste any more time. For exploring other blocks, the government must take appropriate initiative to resolve maritime boundary disputes.
EP: What government should do to encourage investment in energy sector?
HS: Not too long I have written on government measures needed to encourage foreign investment. There has to be transparency and simplifying of the government procedures for investment. It is too bureaucratic today with lots of steps, and sign-offs, which require, unfortunately, bribes to move from one area to the next. The system needs to be simple and investment-friendly so that every investor sees it to be fair and not bogged into corruption.
The government must first correctly assess how much investment is required for energy sector. Government should also decide how much it can invest from its own sources. As to the rest, it must have a clear vision on how much investment it may need from different sources.
As I hinted above, our government must realize that the bureaucracy is the main deterrent force toward attracting FDI. And for transparency in concluding agreements, we must take lessons from other countries. The policymakers must realize that dilly-dally attitude in decision making encourages corruption. Corruption must be weeded out to help investment.
Too many things are seemingly wrong with Bangladesh’s energy sector. Bangladesh lacks the right people in right place to making the right decision at the right time. It has failed not only to attract its skilled expatriates to return and take the mantle of leadership but also to retain its talented workforce. Outside the mediocrity in the technical and administrative leadership and lack of human resources and infrastructure, corruption is another dynamics that has a caustic and crippling effect on anything that it comes across, thereby adversely hindering the development initiative and smooth functioning of the energy sector. Many investors are compelled to bribe so that they can soften the attitude of bureaucrats and expedite matters in their favor. In that process often times it is the undeserving vendor that is chosen over more qualified ones. So, unless corruption is dealt severely and weeded out, it will continue to create a vicious cycle that breeds corruption and in the process gets sustained from players both within and outside the government.
This is how Dr. Habib Siddiqui, Non-resident Bangladeshi Energy Expert, a 1977 graduate in Chemical Engineering from BUET sketches the horizon in Bangladesh’s energy sector. Dr. Siddiqui has graduate degrees in both chemical and nuclear engineering from some of the leading research and engineering universities in North America. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the prestigious University of Southern California, Los Angeles, doing research in the area of enhanced oil recovery from disordered porous media. His web of technical interest also includes nuclear energy. He is a certified Master Black Belt in Six Sigma who has led deployment initiative within three major U.S. corporations (including Merck & Co., where he was a Director lately). He has authored more than 400 articles on a plethora of subjects from scientific and technical to international politics and human rights.
During his brief visit to Bangladesh, Siddiqui (HS) spoke to Energy & Power (EP) Editor Mollah Amzad Hossain. The following is the excerpt of his interview.
EP: How do you evaluate the crisis of energy in Bangladesh?
HS: Like many other 3rd world countries an efficient private sector has not flourished in Bangladesh. Massive government initiative was essential for the development of energy infrastructure, which could not be done for various reasons and that has kept us far behind many other countries today. What upsets me deeply is when I compare our particular case with that of our neighbour -- Myanmar, a country that is ruled by a ruthless military oligarchy for nearly half a century with the worst record in human rights. They are quite aggressive in their bid to explore petroleum resources in offshore. Side by side, they are active in establishing their right on the maritime boundary by submitting claim with the UNO.
And look at us. We have a longer history of democracy in Bangladesh. We have a more educated and talented technical workforce. Sadly, our government in the last four decades has done a lousy job to establish our rights on the maritime boundary and exploring natural resources. It is slow and shortsighted. We react rather than act. We are therefore always a few steps behind our more aggressive neighbours - India and Myanmar. Bangladesh would have been well positioned to avoiding the mess we find ourselves today, if we were thinking and taking the right initiative for offshore exploration for petroleum resources years ago. The lack of government initiative on our natural resources has been a terrible mistake, slowing our progress.
EP: After the independence, the Bangabandhu Government was the first among the South Asian countries to start offshore exploration for petroleum. What are the reasons for government’s inactions and why we lagged behind compared to our neighbours?
HS: Let’s take Petrobangla. I don’t think its works are transparent. Both Petrobangla and PETRONUS were born almost at the same time. Today you can see where they stand and their positions. The public perception is that Petrobangla has neither the capability nor the courage to take independent decision that is based on sound technical expertise; it is run by political whims. As a result, we the public are skeptical of its role in protecting our national interest. The failure to confront Magurchara and Tengratila blow-outs showcased Petrobangla’s inexcusable inability to deal with those kinds of critical issues of our national interest. The government has failed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of state-owned enterprises. It has also failed to provide incentives that are necessary for the growth of the private sectors.
Now as to your question on why the government has failed, there are many reasons I can cite. However, for our purpose here, I shall try to limit these to a few.
You need a representative government that caters and cares for public interest. It must understand the trust it carries and carry out the task diligently, honestly and transparently. Do we have that kind of government? The unfortunate political changes of 1975 triggered a domino effect that affected negatively each and every sector in our country. Energy sector has also suffered the burnt since then. After taking power, General Ziaur Rahman initiated the process of implanting military bureaucrats in many government-run institutions, including the energy sector companies, a process that was to continue until the end of the Ershad dictatorship. Instead of the people’s representatives, making the energy policy and ensuring that our people gets the best from any deal the bureaucrats in the military and civil administration took total control of the energy sector. With lack of accountability to people, they became corrupt and self-serving. Gradually, corruption got institutionalized over the next 17 years. Consequently, petty personal interests were served and development visions of these institutions were stalled by ignoring technical considerations.
The meritorious and competent professionals found no alternatives but to leave the country. The brain-drain of competent professionals from energy sector was simply alarming, and yet the successive governments didn’t take any initiative to stop this phenomenon. In the last 18 years, the elected governments have spoken about the talented non-resident Bangladeshis, or more correctly, the expatriates, and how they could have enabled technology transfer. But all such were empty talks. I still have not seen any concrete proof of engaging our expatriate experts into reviving the energy sector.
I remember when I was a BUET sophomore or junior discussing about the exploration of coal from northern Bangladesh and utilizing it for power generation in a class project discussion that was initiated by Dr Iqbal Mahmud. And look at it some 30 plus years later, we are nowhere close to mining that coal reserve! That coal remains underground while we complain about lack of power generation!
EP: Who are responsible for that?
HS: Obviously the political leadership. I hold it accountable for our failure in energy security. After Bangabandhu’s death, in all these years of Bangladesh, I have failed to find a single leader who really cared about Bangladesh and its ordinary people – the Salimuddin and Kalimuddins within our society. Every politician today, with rare exceptions, seems to care more about his or her greed. Politics is a vehicle for personal enrichment and victimization of others. These are by all means sure recipes for disaster and not nation-building.
We need a people’s government that truly cares, thinks rationally and is willing to formulate a policy that is built on hard facts and consensus-driven, and is aggressive enough to execute it once a decision is taken. Our past governments have miserably failed to provide proper policy and guidance for the energy sector. This has caused enormous harm to our economy, leaving us behind and almost unprepared to deal with alarming gaping energy shortage.
The bottom line is we need a patriotic political leadership that can initiate a fresh revival. We need right people in the right place making right decisions at the right time. Initiatives must be taken to develop governance, transparency and efficiency with everything we do. We need a healthy working environment that is built on meritocracy, and not sycophancy. We must retain the best of our talented workforce through a reward and recognition system, and enable a process that helps our technical folks to exchange and learn from their more talented and skilled expatriates. We must take lessons from other countries and provide appropriate pay packages to qualified professionals. If we fail in this talent management program, it won’t be too long that Bangladesh would be bereft of its best brains. Already, an alarming 80 to 90% of the best engineers have chosen to leave Bangladesh for bettering their livelihoods.
EP: Does that mean that energy sector development should remain stalled till Bangladesh’s energy sector enterprises and manpower acquires efficiency?
HS: No, I did not mean that. If we could afford to be self-reliant, capable and effective ourselves of doing the right thing, definitely it would have been better for us. But we are nowhere close to that ideal situation.
The globalization factor has completely changed our old thinking. We are forced to find the best alternative fast under the situation we are in. Even a communist country like China has opened all its sectors including energy to foreign investment – and mind that, to capitalist countries – its once-mortal foes. In terms of technology transfer in the energy sector that we are talking about, e.g., oil and coal exploration, Bangladesh is in its infantile stage. It needs someone to grab its tender arm and show it how to walk. That will be a much prudent way than being stupidly self-reliant while we don’t know the basics. Government can play a big role in encouraging both local and foreign investment to vitalize our energy sector.
EP: A section of civil society under the banner of Oil, Gas & Port Protection Committee (OGPC) is opposing open pit coal mining and leasing of offshore blocks to IOCs for exploration. How do you evaluate that?
HS: There are environmentalist groups in many countries, including the USA. They are quite active and protest on matters that seem harmful to them in a peaceful manner and the governments are not too offended by their activism. In these days of the Internet, many of these groups also have a very active petition campaign where individual supporters are asked to write to their elected representatives to oppose something that is controversial. You won’t see there the kind of vandalism that takes place in Bangladesh.
I strongly disagree with what the agitators are doing in Bangladesh. I believe this group is acting against national interest with funding from foreign sources. Our ordinary people, the vast majority, are not behind them. I observe with utter surprise when some University teachers get involved with them. They are not only hindering the development of the energy sector but also causing an image crisis for the country. We must note it. Whose purposes are being served by these agitators who oppose the coal mining and offshore oil and gas exploration? It is really saddening to see that we are not mining our high quality, less environment-polluting coal while we allow poor quality Indian coal polluting our environment. This attitude is simply unbelievable! I suspect that these agitators are basically serving the causes and interests of India, and not of Bangladesh.
EP: Agitators are opposing coal mining and offshore PSC. They are propagating that coal should only be mined after ensuring domestic need. What is your evaluation?
HS: If we like to discuss the PSC agreements, we can do that. Any agreement may have merits and demerits. If any clause of any agreement is found to be compromising national interest after signing of agreement, these can be mitigated always through negotiations. The modern commercial world does not favour arbitrary termination or scrapping of signed agreement. All agreements have inbuilt mechanism how these will be operated. Controversies of any signed agreement have to be resolved through negotiation. Government has to take initiative for that.
On the other hand regarding exploration of natural resources in the offshore, I am being reminded of a story in the Holy Quran. The Prophet Moses (Musa (AS)) had a wonderful encounter with Khidir (AS). The story is mentioned in the Surah al-Kahf. Khidir allowed Musa to accompany him on the condition that he must not ask any question as long he is with him. They went to a town where people did not give them food to eat or water to drink. But on the way, Khidir saw a wall that was on the verge of collapse and he fixed it. This behavior puzzled Musa (AS) who could not keep quite. He asked Khidir why he had fixed the wall. Khidir explained that the property where the wall stood belonged to some orphans whose God-fearing parents had hidden some treasure underneath that wall hoping that when their kids would grow up they would find the hidden treasure. It was God’s wish that such a treasure be not made visible to others before they come of age. So, fearing that collapsing wall might bare the hidden treasure, Khidir fixed the wall.
There is a big lesson in this story of the Qur’an. In contrast to the hidden treasure, the maritime resources of the Bay of Bengal, which is our share, now remains exposed and is getting stolen unless we try to grab which is ours before everything is lost. However, we are not mature enough to do this task ourselves. We need partners that can help us protect our rights. If we wait too long till we acquire capacity to explore and exploit nothing will be left for us. In this context, I am in favour of the initiative for PSC that has been taken to explore it now. We have already made much delay. We must not waste any more time. For exploring other blocks, the government must take appropriate initiative to resolve maritime boundary disputes.
EP: What government should do to encourage investment in energy sector?
HS: Not too long I have written on government measures needed to encourage foreign investment. There has to be transparency and simplifying of the government procedures for investment. It is too bureaucratic today with lots of steps, and sign-offs, which require, unfortunately, bribes to move from one area to the next. The system needs to be simple and investment-friendly so that every investor sees it to be fair and not bogged into corruption.
The government must first correctly assess how much investment is required for energy sector. Government should also decide how much it can invest from its own sources. As to the rest, it must have a clear vision on how much investment it may need from different sources.
As I hinted above, our government must realize that the bureaucracy is the main deterrent force toward attracting FDI. And for transparency in concluding agreements, we must take lessons from other countries. The policymakers must realize that dilly-dally attitude in decision making encourages corruption. Corruption must be weeded out to help investment.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Some suggestions with worsening traffic condition in major cities of Bangladesh
Ref: http://www.e-bangladesh.org/2009/10/21/grid-lock-dhaka-%E2%80%93-some-suggestions/comment-page-1/#comment-8967
In e-Bangladesh Engineer Kh. A. Saleque offered some practical solutions to the gridlock situation with roads in Dhaka. I was in Dhaka just the last month, and I could testify to the fact that nearly 80% of one's productive time is lost or wasted in traffic congestion alone. That is too much by any standard. By the time one reaches one's destination, very little is left of one's energy to concentrate on matters important.
Many cities with equally high population density have mitigated such congestion problems. True that many of these countries are rich and can afford to implement solutions that are improbable for a country like Bangladesh. And yet with a strong government desire and well thought out plan that takes into consideration pros and cons of a futuristic plan is still within our reach to solve this problem in our lifetime.
In my own writing earlier, I mentioned that some 300 new cars are pouring into the streets of Dhaka, thus worsening the situation. No new roads have been built to take away the extra pressure. As A. Saleque pointed out, all the offices, government and non-government, are located inside the city. The city is crowded with hundreds of schools and colleges. Every day the city skyline is dotted with newer buildings, thanks to the construction industry. In a small lane with hardly 10-20 feet wide road, there are now several tall residential structures built to house hundreds of new residents, some with cars. When those residents move around, there is little room for them to roam about or drive through. The city planning over the last few years have been responsible for the mess in authorizing such construction permits. The new FAR rule is supposed to somewhat less burden localities, but already much harm has been done to the localities for city corporation' failure to be future thinking.
Most parents send their children these days to the schools in Dhaka by car or other means of transportation. Often times, someone from the family accompanies the little student. This means, the roads are doubly occupied at or close to school opening and closing hours. Thus even a good program like staggered timing for schools simply will not go far into mitigating the root causes. My suggestion there would be forcing schools, esp. the private ones, to pick students from homes in small vans, thereby reducing the pressure on the road. The same vans will also return the kids to their homes. This way, instead of every ten cars or other forms of transportation only one van will occupy the roads during the school opening and closing hours. Some transportation companies can be employed or rented by the school authorities to provide such hourly services at regular hours of the day. Bottom line is greater emphasis must be made towards promoting public transportation over the private ones to mitigate the traffic congestion problem in our cities.
I noticed that when buses move between locations, several buses are already waiting or starting at the same time at any given terminal, thus further narrowing down available space on the road side. There is hardly any designated curb for buses to load and unload passengers. This is where a good urban planning can do miracles. If a transportation policy is enforced such that next buses to a terminal come every five minutes and not simultaneously, and that these also stop at the designated curb side and not in the middle of the road, which usually is the case today blocking many commuters, we would have a much more smoother and continuous flow of traffic along the city roads. Traffic police must be empowered to penalize heavily any violator. A separate court can deal with such traffic violations.
More frequent use of local trains between various city centers can force commuters to settle for such public transportation systems, which are less aggravating, cheaper and faster than means employed now by most commuters.
These days, most cities, including Dhaka, don't have walking footpaths. Thanks to illegal over extension on the roadside by many shopkeepers, road-side restaurants, garbage dumps, and homeless shelters, these passages, if existing, are simply not functional any more in most localities. Pedestrians are thus forced into walking on the roads, which should have been dedicated solely to cars and rickshaws. In the absence of designated terminals for rickshaws and taxis, the available road space is increasingly shrinking at an alarming rate.
Many analysts have noted that any city that has mixed modes of transportation, esp. some requiring brute man power like the rickshaws, it is a losing battle to speed up things on the same road since just like in kinetic reactions the slower ones would dictate the rule of the road. Many concerned citizens have therefore called for banning rickshaws from our roads in major cities that are now plagued by gridlock phenomenon. I personally don't think it is a decision that any democratic government will take - knowing very well that there are now more than a hundred thousand rickshaw pullers in major cities like Dhaka each of whom in turn supporting five to seven family members on their income. On a usual day, they earn close to 300 taka, barely enough to support the needs of their family members. A gradual phased out option with guarantees for alternative means of employment for these rickshaw pullers can be tried to relieve the concentration on the city roads. Sadly, outside the garment industry and housing construction business, very little new jobs have been created in the last couple of decades. The salaries offered there are also too little to meet needs of many workers. For example, a garment worker usually earns about 1500 taka per month. If he pulls a rickshaw even for eight hours, he can make a minimum of 4500 taka monthly to his pockets. Most garment industry owners and executives today are filthy rich making earnings and salaries that are often times at par or more than those offered in Fortune 100 companies. And yet, when it comes to paying salaries of other employees they cheat them big time. In this respect, I was recently too shocked to learn the pay-scale of a new employee having a BBA degree from a reputed private university with one of the largest garment companies. It was only 3000 taka base salary. How can anyone who has spent 40,-70,000 taka per semester for 4 to 5 years of study afford to accept such salary offers? Just the transportation cost to work may cost the employee 3000 taka per month!
Getting back to the subject, I agree with Engineer A. Saleque that a phased relocation of government offices and headquarters away from the city centers would relieve pressure from the roads. I am however against relocating Dhaka University, BUET and Dhaka Medical College. They are part of our heritage and must stay where these are situated. However, newer annex campuses can be built outside the city centers. An all encompassing concerted effort must be made to ensure that no new universities are built within the Dhaka city limit. To sustain such projects adequate care must be made to ensure that such places are self-sufficient to cater to the needs of the teachers and employees. Otherwise, good wishes will not bear the necessary fruits. For instance, teachers and employees of such institutions would be forced to live in major cities that better cater to the needs of their own children. The same goes for any offices that should relocate outside the city centers. Without the necessary infrastructures built a priori, all attempts to force people to settle outside, and thus, reduce the burden on city roads, will fail. Government must develop a long term plan for building some satellite towns around many of the major cities today to further dilute population density in all major cities. Each new towns must be self-sufficient and self-sustaining to maximize their usefulness.
I also propose that the Prime Minister and the President use helicopters to move between their offices so as to less burden commuters. If a CEO of a major Fortune 100 company in the USA can afford to take such rides, why can't our head of state and PM? Such a measure can actually be less expensive not only to the state treasury, but stops wasting commuters' time and money for the extra hours that they now spend on the roads anytime the convoys of our PM or President pass through the busy roads.
Many streets within the city limits must be made one-way roads, strictly being enforced by the Police. In my own experience I have noticed that wherever it is a bi-way road, it is a mess along the frequent turns to the sides. Some narrow roads are now used making turns in all directions thus blocking traffic for hours. Sadly in many such places there were no traffic police to ease people's pains on the roads.
Our people also seem to enjoy law-breaking. Even where there are overpasses and underpasses for pedestrians, meant so that they do not cross the road, they avoid such designated passes. The traffic police don't penalize anyone for such routine violations.
I noticed speed-breaks in front of many schools, colleges and universities (and even hospitals). These unduly slow down the traffic during busy hours, and are totally ignored at night (most of these don't have any visible signs or warnings). Imagine a 10-20 ton lorry rolling over the street at night at 40 to 70 km/hour! All such speed breaks are now taking sleep away from the residents that live nearby. This stupid speed breaks must be eliminated now. Instead, city authorities should consider posting some flashing lights to warn the auto drivers at designated times. For example, during opening and closing hours, such lights would flash warning drivers that it is a busy time and they should slow down to a designated speed limit for safety. At night and at other hours of the day, when it is not necessary, the warning lights need not blink. Provisions must also be taken to ensure that the roads in front of all hospitals are as quiet as possible without any horns and sirens heard. A strict enforcement from Police can do miracles to alleviate people's pain. I say this because during my 3-week long stay in Chittagong, I did not have a single night of sound sleep, thanks to Mayor Mohiuddin's stupid speed breakers on Zakir Hossain Road. Every time a bus or truck passed, and went over those speed breaks, it felt like a small earthquake.
If our city authorities truly care about the residents that live and pay taxes, they should think about alleviating their pains, and come up with smart measures that are forward and future thinking. If they take care of the garbage and sewer problems, enforce laws, build overpasses for pedestrians at busy intersections, clear footpaths from the undesirable people and structures and dumps, they can do a great service to their citizens.
Many city planners and authorities in the western world are now using six sigma methodology to address traffic congestion problems, let alone city planning. Sadly, Bangladesh remains locked up in its past and has shown reluctance to embrace newer methodologies to move forward. Today, there are some Bangladeshi expats that are masters of this methodology and can assist Bangladesh to solve many such problems faced by our nation. But it will take someone in the government to grab their hands. Until then, we shall be deprived of their sincere offer to lend their hands. I am sure if we put our heads and hands together we can solve more than half the traffic problem fast without even spending much.
In e-Bangladesh Engineer Kh. A. Saleque offered some practical solutions to the gridlock situation with roads in Dhaka. I was in Dhaka just the last month, and I could testify to the fact that nearly 80% of one's productive time is lost or wasted in traffic congestion alone. That is too much by any standard. By the time one reaches one's destination, very little is left of one's energy to concentrate on matters important.
Many cities with equally high population density have mitigated such congestion problems. True that many of these countries are rich and can afford to implement solutions that are improbable for a country like Bangladesh. And yet with a strong government desire and well thought out plan that takes into consideration pros and cons of a futuristic plan is still within our reach to solve this problem in our lifetime.
In my own writing earlier, I mentioned that some 300 new cars are pouring into the streets of Dhaka, thus worsening the situation. No new roads have been built to take away the extra pressure. As A. Saleque pointed out, all the offices, government and non-government, are located inside the city. The city is crowded with hundreds of schools and colleges. Every day the city skyline is dotted with newer buildings, thanks to the construction industry. In a small lane with hardly 10-20 feet wide road, there are now several tall residential structures built to house hundreds of new residents, some with cars. When those residents move around, there is little room for them to roam about or drive through. The city planning over the last few years have been responsible for the mess in authorizing such construction permits. The new FAR rule is supposed to somewhat less burden localities, but already much harm has been done to the localities for city corporation' failure to be future thinking.
Most parents send their children these days to the schools in Dhaka by car or other means of transportation. Often times, someone from the family accompanies the little student. This means, the roads are doubly occupied at or close to school opening and closing hours. Thus even a good program like staggered timing for schools simply will not go far into mitigating the root causes. My suggestion there would be forcing schools, esp. the private ones, to pick students from homes in small vans, thereby reducing the pressure on the road. The same vans will also return the kids to their homes. This way, instead of every ten cars or other forms of transportation only one van will occupy the roads during the school opening and closing hours. Some transportation companies can be employed or rented by the school authorities to provide such hourly services at regular hours of the day. Bottom line is greater emphasis must be made towards promoting public transportation over the private ones to mitigate the traffic congestion problem in our cities.
I noticed that when buses move between locations, several buses are already waiting or starting at the same time at any given terminal, thus further narrowing down available space on the road side. There is hardly any designated curb for buses to load and unload passengers. This is where a good urban planning can do miracles. If a transportation policy is enforced such that next buses to a terminal come every five minutes and not simultaneously, and that these also stop at the designated curb side and not in the middle of the road, which usually is the case today blocking many commuters, we would have a much more smoother and continuous flow of traffic along the city roads. Traffic police must be empowered to penalize heavily any violator. A separate court can deal with such traffic violations.
More frequent use of local trains between various city centers can force commuters to settle for such public transportation systems, which are less aggravating, cheaper and faster than means employed now by most commuters.
These days, most cities, including Dhaka, don't have walking footpaths. Thanks to illegal over extension on the roadside by many shopkeepers, road-side restaurants, garbage dumps, and homeless shelters, these passages, if existing, are simply not functional any more in most localities. Pedestrians are thus forced into walking on the roads, which should have been dedicated solely to cars and rickshaws. In the absence of designated terminals for rickshaws and taxis, the available road space is increasingly shrinking at an alarming rate.
Many analysts have noted that any city that has mixed modes of transportation, esp. some requiring brute man power like the rickshaws, it is a losing battle to speed up things on the same road since just like in kinetic reactions the slower ones would dictate the rule of the road. Many concerned citizens have therefore called for banning rickshaws from our roads in major cities that are now plagued by gridlock phenomenon. I personally don't think it is a decision that any democratic government will take - knowing very well that there are now more than a hundred thousand rickshaw pullers in major cities like Dhaka each of whom in turn supporting five to seven family members on their income. On a usual day, they earn close to 300 taka, barely enough to support the needs of their family members. A gradual phased out option with guarantees for alternative means of employment for these rickshaw pullers can be tried to relieve the concentration on the city roads. Sadly, outside the garment industry and housing construction business, very little new jobs have been created in the last couple of decades. The salaries offered there are also too little to meet needs of many workers. For example, a garment worker usually earns about 1500 taka per month. If he pulls a rickshaw even for eight hours, he can make a minimum of 4500 taka monthly to his pockets. Most garment industry owners and executives today are filthy rich making earnings and salaries that are often times at par or more than those offered in Fortune 100 companies. And yet, when it comes to paying salaries of other employees they cheat them big time. In this respect, I was recently too shocked to learn the pay-scale of a new employee having a BBA degree from a reputed private university with one of the largest garment companies. It was only 3000 taka base salary. How can anyone who has spent 40,-70,000 taka per semester for 4 to 5 years of study afford to accept such salary offers? Just the transportation cost to work may cost the employee 3000 taka per month!
Getting back to the subject, I agree with Engineer A. Saleque that a phased relocation of government offices and headquarters away from the city centers would relieve pressure from the roads. I am however against relocating Dhaka University, BUET and Dhaka Medical College. They are part of our heritage and must stay where these are situated. However, newer annex campuses can be built outside the city centers. An all encompassing concerted effort must be made to ensure that no new universities are built within the Dhaka city limit. To sustain such projects adequate care must be made to ensure that such places are self-sufficient to cater to the needs of the teachers and employees. Otherwise, good wishes will not bear the necessary fruits. For instance, teachers and employees of such institutions would be forced to live in major cities that better cater to the needs of their own children. The same goes for any offices that should relocate outside the city centers. Without the necessary infrastructures built a priori, all attempts to force people to settle outside, and thus, reduce the burden on city roads, will fail. Government must develop a long term plan for building some satellite towns around many of the major cities today to further dilute population density in all major cities. Each new towns must be self-sufficient and self-sustaining to maximize their usefulness.
I also propose that the Prime Minister and the President use helicopters to move between their offices so as to less burden commuters. If a CEO of a major Fortune 100 company in the USA can afford to take such rides, why can't our head of state and PM? Such a measure can actually be less expensive not only to the state treasury, but stops wasting commuters' time and money for the extra hours that they now spend on the roads anytime the convoys of our PM or President pass through the busy roads.
Many streets within the city limits must be made one-way roads, strictly being enforced by the Police. In my own experience I have noticed that wherever it is a bi-way road, it is a mess along the frequent turns to the sides. Some narrow roads are now used making turns in all directions thus blocking traffic for hours. Sadly in many such places there were no traffic police to ease people's pains on the roads.
Our people also seem to enjoy law-breaking. Even where there are overpasses and underpasses for pedestrians, meant so that they do not cross the road, they avoid such designated passes. The traffic police don't penalize anyone for such routine violations.
I noticed speed-breaks in front of many schools, colleges and universities (and even hospitals). These unduly slow down the traffic during busy hours, and are totally ignored at night (most of these don't have any visible signs or warnings). Imagine a 10-20 ton lorry rolling over the street at night at 40 to 70 km/hour! All such speed breaks are now taking sleep away from the residents that live nearby. This stupid speed breaks must be eliminated now. Instead, city authorities should consider posting some flashing lights to warn the auto drivers at designated times. For example, during opening and closing hours, such lights would flash warning drivers that it is a busy time and they should slow down to a designated speed limit for safety. At night and at other hours of the day, when it is not necessary, the warning lights need not blink. Provisions must also be taken to ensure that the roads in front of all hospitals are as quiet as possible without any horns and sirens heard. A strict enforcement from Police can do miracles to alleviate people's pain. I say this because during my 3-week long stay in Chittagong, I did not have a single night of sound sleep, thanks to Mayor Mohiuddin's stupid speed breakers on Zakir Hossain Road. Every time a bus or truck passed, and went over those speed breaks, it felt like a small earthquake.
If our city authorities truly care about the residents that live and pay taxes, they should think about alleviating their pains, and come up with smart measures that are forward and future thinking. If they take care of the garbage and sewer problems, enforce laws, build overpasses for pedestrians at busy intersections, clear footpaths from the undesirable people and structures and dumps, they can do a great service to their citizens.
Many city planners and authorities in the western world are now using six sigma methodology to address traffic congestion problems, let alone city planning. Sadly, Bangladesh remains locked up in its past and has shown reluctance to embrace newer methodologies to move forward. Today, there are some Bangladeshi expats that are masters of this methodology and can assist Bangladesh to solve many such problems faced by our nation. But it will take someone in the government to grab their hands. Until then, we shall be deprived of their sincere offer to lend their hands. I am sure if we put our heads and hands together we can solve more than half the traffic problem fast without even spending much.
Friday, October 30, 2009
American Travelers deserve better at their own airports
Last Friday I returned from a three-week long overseas trip. This has been the third of such trips for me in a year. These days, air travels are no fun for any passenger. The traveler is forced to pay for all security checks, arrive at the airport at least two to three hours ahead of the departure time and go through multiple checkpoints. And then, most flights are late in departing from the gate. In these days of job insecurity and high unemployment, security jobs at the airports seem to be exceptions. The companies doing business in this area, whether these are selling machines or providing security guards, are all doing great. I am told that many such security firms are actually managed by former Israeli agents. After all, they had the least number of plane hijacking! They ought to know something better that others don’t.
As usual, the security check-ups in the JFK are the worst. The security guys won’t allow anyone to pass through the security check points with any liquid -- even children’s drinks, not even body lotions and face creams. I saw a female passenger disapprovingly handing over her newly purchased unused expensive lotion and perfume to the security lady. She apparently forgot about those stupid rules! I am sure that someone within the security system is making a good business out of those snatched items. The passengers are also required to take their shoes off before passing through the checkpoints. Blame all such troubles on to Richard Colvin Reid – the failed shoe-bomber!
The intercontinental flight over the Atlantic was a long one – almost 12 hours. But thanks to the Qatar Airways’ Boeing flight with plenty of leg-space and great personal entertainment center, it was not too difficult to relax and enjoy the flight. The in-flight service from the crew, mostly from South-east Asia, was also great. With few passengers flying, many passengers in the economy class were able to lie down and sleep.
During my return flight from Doha, I had to face again the same type of security checks – a more thorough version for everyone flying to the USA. That is, those passengers flying to other places were not required to face multiple checks as we did. Well, looks like every traveler to and from American airports will have to endure the painful process for a long time, unless common sense dictates to stop this madness! As I hinted in the beginning, no one is winning from this madness except those involved in the security business. Billions of dollars are lost every year as a result of this extra security checks at the airports around the globe.
While American immigration officers are probably the most professional and efficient of their kind in the world, taking the least amount of time to process documents of arriving passengers (and causing the least amount of waiting time in front of the counters), the other services inside the arrival terminal -- from bag unloading from the carousels, which can take in excess of half an hour, to finding a cart to load baggage -- are probably worst in the world. One has to pay five dollars to get a wheel cart to load one’s bags. In my frequent flights to many countries around the world, I am simply unaware of any foreign airport charging its arriving passengers to pay for such carts, which are offered free to help them move their baggage easily. But here in the USA such a free service is simply absent, causing much irritation, annoyance and problem to many foreign travelers who may not have the right currency upon their arrival.
When a third world country like Bangladesh can afford to provide such cart services free to all its passengers, it is high time that the USA, the richest country in the world, modifies its policy to make its airports more friendlier to its travelers.
As usual, the security check-ups in the JFK are the worst. The security guys won’t allow anyone to pass through the security check points with any liquid -- even children’s drinks, not even body lotions and face creams. I saw a female passenger disapprovingly handing over her newly purchased unused expensive lotion and perfume to the security lady. She apparently forgot about those stupid rules! I am sure that someone within the security system is making a good business out of those snatched items. The passengers are also required to take their shoes off before passing through the checkpoints. Blame all such troubles on to Richard Colvin Reid – the failed shoe-bomber!
The intercontinental flight over the Atlantic was a long one – almost 12 hours. But thanks to the Qatar Airways’ Boeing flight with plenty of leg-space and great personal entertainment center, it was not too difficult to relax and enjoy the flight. The in-flight service from the crew, mostly from South-east Asia, was also great. With few passengers flying, many passengers in the economy class were able to lie down and sleep.
During my return flight from Doha, I had to face again the same type of security checks – a more thorough version for everyone flying to the USA. That is, those passengers flying to other places were not required to face multiple checks as we did. Well, looks like every traveler to and from American airports will have to endure the painful process for a long time, unless common sense dictates to stop this madness! As I hinted in the beginning, no one is winning from this madness except those involved in the security business. Billions of dollars are lost every year as a result of this extra security checks at the airports around the globe.
While American immigration officers are probably the most professional and efficient of their kind in the world, taking the least amount of time to process documents of arriving passengers (and causing the least amount of waiting time in front of the counters), the other services inside the arrival terminal -- from bag unloading from the carousels, which can take in excess of half an hour, to finding a cart to load baggage -- are probably worst in the world. One has to pay five dollars to get a wheel cart to load one’s bags. In my frequent flights to many countries around the world, I am simply unaware of any foreign airport charging its arriving passengers to pay for such carts, which are offered free to help them move their baggage easily. But here in the USA such a free service is simply absent, causing much irritation, annoyance and problem to many foreign travelers who may not have the right currency upon their arrival.
When a third world country like Bangladesh can afford to provide such cart services free to all its passengers, it is high time that the USA, the richest country in the world, modifies its policy to make its airports more friendlier to its travelers.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
My recent trip to Doha and Bangladesh
I returned home to Philadelphia last night from my trip to Bangladesh. The Qatar flight from Doha arrived earlier than scheduled although the flight had taken off almost an hour late. The in-flight service was great. I stayed in a hotel, provided by the Qatar Airways, for almost a full day.
Doha is a very organized, neat city, with lots of construction work going on everywhere. There were too many hotels for the people touring or staying in hotels. I don't know what the builders are thinking! Most of the foreign workers were either Indian or Phillippinos. Many of the crew members in the plane were also from SE Asia (again from Thailand and the Philippines). I hardly saw any Bangladeshi except inside the Doha airport. The Indians have effectively taken over the hotel, catering and grocery industries in Qatar, many of them driving expensive foreign cars. Chevrolet was rather very common brand among most Qataris owning foreign cars. Weather was great, not too hot, for this time of the year. It was in the mid-30s (deg C). I hardly saw anyone walking on the streets outside migrant day laborers, working for the construction or hotel industry. So, Qatar seems to be one place in the Middle East where Bangladeshi workers are too few.
By the way, on my first leg of the journey I saw and met some Bangladeshi workers returning from the ME. They had lost the job there, or were betrayed by their sponsors. There was a Sylheti who had spent some quarter million taka to come for his cherished construction job, only to be returned empty-handed (and without even his belongings) within three months. The Bangladeshi embassy, as usual, was of no help to ensure his rights. It is a sad story for some workers who had spent all their savings, even borrowing from others to make that dream trip and then end up like that broke. No one inside the govt, esp. inside the Bangaldeshi embassies, seemed ever to care for such wage earners.
As noted by Prof. Taj Hashmi in a personal letter from his latest trip to Bangladesh, the traffic situation in all major cities is deteriorating fast with almost 300 cars adding every day to the Dhaka city alone. The govt's plan for separate schedules for offices and schools, while well-intentioned and smart, may actually have little luck to alleviate people's miseries on the roads, unless newer ways are found to address the real issues culminating into the mess. They may like to follow other prudent methods, some tried in our neighboring countries. For a mere meeting anywhere, within 3 to 5 kms, one may spend nearly 2 to 6 hours on the road, thus wasting nearly 80% of productive time. I wish our people had learned the art of utilizing phone to do many of their tasks; they still seemed to like the face to face meetings over those held over the phone. The work-efficiency is still a far cry for most business operations. The press freedom is at an all time high. This can be somewhat confusing for some people though. While the price of rice and some food items have come down from the 1/11-days, the price of most items is still beyond the means of most Bangladeshis, costing more in real dollars than in the USA.
The cities are dirty and filthy without any drainage cleaning for years. With corrupt mayors in many cities, esp. in the big ones, the life of most residents is worsening. With all the fast moving heavy trucks and buses rolling over the major streets round the clock, I could hardly have a sound sleep in Chittagong. Mayor Mohiuddin has put up speed breakers in front of all schools and colleges in the cities. However, without any visible sign or warnings, only thing he has been able to do is take away people's sleep at night. It is a stupid policy - trying to apply a wrong formula at a wrong place, without ever thinking about the consequences of such stupid actions. Who advises stupid mayors like him, I don't have any clue! Crime and corruption, as usual, is on the rise everywhere.
Many of the govt-priorities are misplaced and ill-conceived. It needs to do a Pareto analysis to prioritize important deliverables and chalk out real plans to implement those within the shortest time possible effectively. I wish Prime Minister Hasina had the wisdom of appointing more experienced people in her Mahajote govt rather than many amateurs that now include her administration. As usual, tender-politics is on the rise, and this, in spite of her warnings not to favor her party folks. I see lack of sincerity in many such efforts. She should also understand that while her father was definitely the most important Bangladeshi ever in the long history of our people, and that our people are indebted to him, she does not own Bangladesh, and cannot therefore behave like a feudal heiress. She should try to distinguish between sincere advice and sycophancy. The latter practice unfortunately is on the rise. I was simply annoyed to see the name change of the China-Bangladesh Friendship Convention center to Bangabandhu International Convention Center. I don't know whether it was a reversal act from de-naming names though! But such naming games ought to come to a full stop. I don't mind though govt putting its petty name with things that it erects on its own count, but hate to see old structures renamed. It is a piracy and must stop before our people's patience runs dry!
Many of our people are already too frustrated with real reforms taking place; if at all, too slowly. They seemed betrayed. Many blame the bureaucrats for the on-going troubles. While most intellectuals think that it was the lack of continuation of civil administration that is at the heart of our troubles, most seem to opine that a benevolent dictator is probably what is needed for Bangladesh! This wish again epitomizes our failure as a nation state. We seemed to have wasted away the last 38 years! Our political leaders also have learned nothing from history and continues to do insane and stupid things with lack of far-sightedness, sincerity of purpose and intention. As it seems, we shall therefore see more of the same.
Doha is a very organized, neat city, with lots of construction work going on everywhere. There were too many hotels for the people touring or staying in hotels. I don't know what the builders are thinking! Most of the foreign workers were either Indian or Phillippinos. Many of the crew members in the plane were also from SE Asia (again from Thailand and the Philippines). I hardly saw any Bangladeshi except inside the Doha airport. The Indians have effectively taken over the hotel, catering and grocery industries in Qatar, many of them driving expensive foreign cars. Chevrolet was rather very common brand among most Qataris owning foreign cars. Weather was great, not too hot, for this time of the year. It was in the mid-30s (deg C). I hardly saw anyone walking on the streets outside migrant day laborers, working for the construction or hotel industry. So, Qatar seems to be one place in the Middle East where Bangladeshi workers are too few.
By the way, on my first leg of the journey I saw and met some Bangladeshi workers returning from the ME. They had lost the job there, or were betrayed by their sponsors. There was a Sylheti who had spent some quarter million taka to come for his cherished construction job, only to be returned empty-handed (and without even his belongings) within three months. The Bangladeshi embassy, as usual, was of no help to ensure his rights. It is a sad story for some workers who had spent all their savings, even borrowing from others to make that dream trip and then end up like that broke. No one inside the govt, esp. inside the Bangaldeshi embassies, seemed ever to care for such wage earners.
As noted by Prof. Taj Hashmi in a personal letter from his latest trip to Bangladesh, the traffic situation in all major cities is deteriorating fast with almost 300 cars adding every day to the Dhaka city alone. The govt's plan for separate schedules for offices and schools, while well-intentioned and smart, may actually have little luck to alleviate people's miseries on the roads, unless newer ways are found to address the real issues culminating into the mess. They may like to follow other prudent methods, some tried in our neighboring countries. For a mere meeting anywhere, within 3 to 5 kms, one may spend nearly 2 to 6 hours on the road, thus wasting nearly 80% of productive time. I wish our people had learned the art of utilizing phone to do many of their tasks; they still seemed to like the face to face meetings over those held over the phone. The work-efficiency is still a far cry for most business operations. The press freedom is at an all time high. This can be somewhat confusing for some people though. While the price of rice and some food items have come down from the 1/11-days, the price of most items is still beyond the means of most Bangladeshis, costing more in real dollars than in the USA.
The cities are dirty and filthy without any drainage cleaning for years. With corrupt mayors in many cities, esp. in the big ones, the life of most residents is worsening. With all the fast moving heavy trucks and buses rolling over the major streets round the clock, I could hardly have a sound sleep in Chittagong. Mayor Mohiuddin has put up speed breakers in front of all schools and colleges in the cities. However, without any visible sign or warnings, only thing he has been able to do is take away people's sleep at night. It is a stupid policy - trying to apply a wrong formula at a wrong place, without ever thinking about the consequences of such stupid actions. Who advises stupid mayors like him, I don't have any clue! Crime and corruption, as usual, is on the rise everywhere.
Many of the govt-priorities are misplaced and ill-conceived. It needs to do a Pareto analysis to prioritize important deliverables and chalk out real plans to implement those within the shortest time possible effectively. I wish Prime Minister Hasina had the wisdom of appointing more experienced people in her Mahajote govt rather than many amateurs that now include her administration. As usual, tender-politics is on the rise, and this, in spite of her warnings not to favor her party folks. I see lack of sincerity in many such efforts. She should also understand that while her father was definitely the most important Bangladeshi ever in the long history of our people, and that our people are indebted to him, she does not own Bangladesh, and cannot therefore behave like a feudal heiress. She should try to distinguish between sincere advice and sycophancy. The latter practice unfortunately is on the rise. I was simply annoyed to see the name change of the China-Bangladesh Friendship Convention center to Bangabandhu International Convention Center. I don't know whether it was a reversal act from de-naming names though! But such naming games ought to come to a full stop. I don't mind though govt putting its petty name with things that it erects on its own count, but hate to see old structures renamed. It is a piracy and must stop before our people's patience runs dry!
Many of our people are already too frustrated with real reforms taking place; if at all, too slowly. They seemed betrayed. Many blame the bureaucrats for the on-going troubles. While most intellectuals think that it was the lack of continuation of civil administration that is at the heart of our troubles, most seem to opine that a benevolent dictator is probably what is needed for Bangladesh! This wish again epitomizes our failure as a nation state. We seemed to have wasted away the last 38 years! Our political leaders also have learned nothing from history and continues to do insane and stupid things with lack of far-sightedness, sincerity of purpose and intention. As it seems, we shall therefore see more of the same.
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