Fractured focus or diversionary designs?

LAHORE: Situation at hand demands that instead of opening the Pandora box on dead issues like independent power producers (IPPS) and bank loans the government should focus on combating coronavirus pandemic, while it should also stop dragging its feet on critical issues like approval of lifesaving and other indispensable drugs.

The way this government has started highlighting non-issues gives an impression that it is trying to divert the attention of the nation from its unplanned tackling of pandemic. This time around coronavirus is the main issue. Look at the sugar and wheat reports, general public and media has moved after few days of hype.

The pandemic is causing havoc in developed world and Pakistanis are genuinely worried about its impact on their loved ones. Coronavirus is indeed a serious issue, but other health issues cannot be ignored; particularly if they are related to the survival of patients. There are certain issues that cannot be ignored even during the current pandemic like new approval of new drugs; however, matters like IPPs and bank defaults can wait.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan is known for delaying new drug approvals for long time. Pharmaceutical companies apply for registration of newly researched drugs approved by the drug regulatory authorities of most developed nations. These drugs are highly effective than the drugs for same disease already approved and marketed in the country. Delay in approvals deprives Pakistani patients of better treatment against various ailments. As if the delays by DRAP were not enough a new procedure was approved that subjected the approval of drugs by DRAP to approval of the federal cabinet.

Since DRAP is a body comprising highly technical persons its approval after prolonged procedures should have needed only formal approval from the cabinet whenever the case was put to the cabinet. Instead the members of the cabinet started asking for clarifications one after the other. The result is that there are some crucial anti-cancer drugs that are awaiting the cabinet nod for almost 14 months. Then there are drugs that went for approval may be 8 months or 6 months back. This inordinate delay in approval by non-technical persons is not condonable. Given the lax controls at Pakistani airports the patients used to get those medicines through their relatives that visited Pakistan from any corner where these drugs were marketed. It is no more possible to do so under the current lockdown and closure of normal flights. The patients are suffering badly and many may succumb to the ailment if they did not get those drugs. Formal approval of drugs already cleared by DRAP should be the priority of the federal cabinet.

Coming to the IPPS it seems very strange that Advisor to the Prime Minister Nadeem Babar a few years back defended the IPPs for maintaining their efficiencies. The News carried his remarks a few years back in which he said that when the IPP agreements were being finalized the government insisted that it would be based on the assumed inefficiencies of the power producers over period of time. The tariff was fixed higher during the initial years and tapered off in subsequent years on the assumption that their efficiencies would decline. Some IPPs maintained their generators excellently and continued to produce higher electricity per gram of fuel than the others. They charged tariff according to government formula and whatever they gained was because of their high efficiency.

Moreover, according to the agreements signed with the IPPs the arbitration in case of any dispute would be outside Pakistan. Appeals could also be filed against the decision of arbitrator in the international courts. Pakistan has lost all the cases against the IPPs up till now. If IPPs are pressured and they move for arbitration the government would be in trouble. We have seen that in case of Hubco, whose agreement with the previous regime was challenged by Nawaz Shariff government in 1997 and Hubco won the case.

There is nothing new in the list of those that waived loans or defaulted to the banks. The central bank is the authority to find out illegality in past settlements. Time and again the waivers were deemed legal. The new list would create a stir for a while, but it is unlikely that beneficiaries would be successfully prosecuted. Some waivers were given during the tenure of Dr Ishrat Hussain the current advisor to the Prime Minister. It seems that these futile exercises are being undertaken to divert the attention of the people of Pakistan from Coronavirus situation. The mortality rate that for the first few weeks was a little over one percent has increased to 1.7 percent as 113 deaths have been reported out of 6217 case recorded by 2 pm on Wednesday. Things are moving from bad to worse and situation needs government to stay fully focused on pandemic.