Whose fault was this anyway?

This refers to the news report, 'Over 50% of Decisions Delayed Due to Excessive Bureaucracy: PIDE Report' (September 16, 2024). For a country in constant need of funds and often reliant on financial support from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and China before the IMF agrees to step in, it is astonishing how casually Pakistan's affairs are managed.

In addition to bureaucratic inefficiencies (with some notable exceptions), I hold the politicians, the judiciary, and, to a degree, Generals Zia and Musharraf accountable. General Zia bears responsibility for allowing politicians to sidetrack him on building the Kalabagh Dam, despite World Bank approval and funding. General Musharraf missed a critical opportunity to secure US funding for the Kalabagh Dam and other infrastructure projects. If this dam had been built, it would today generate 3,600MW of affordable electricity, store up to 6.1 million acre-feet of water, and provide some flood control. Instead, around 35.5 million acre-feet of water flows unused into the Arabian Sea each year. Politicians, too, are responsible for raising unnecessary issues that ultimately harm the nation. In hindsight, I also fault former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for blocking the sale of Pakistan Steel Mills in 2005, a decision that led to Rs21 billion in losses, while over Rs200 billion has since been poured into the failing enterprise. Another costly misjudgment was canceling the 2012 Reko Diq contract with Barrick Gold.

Syed Hussein El-Edroos

Islamabad