Monday, July 10, 2006

The Negligent's Heaven

THIS country is a heaven for the negligent. You may do anything, rarely would you be questioned. The whole matter would soon be sent into the oblivion. The recent crash of the PIA aircraft is one such example. Accidents like this have been happening in the past. The authorities conduct some routine investigations but hardly anything positive is gained out of it. The culprits are let go. Not to forget the earthquake incident when the whole plaza was razed to the ground in Islamabad. Did anyone hear or read that the contractor of the building was arrested? No, the government has more important matters to take care of no matter how many innocent die in an incident.

PIA Crash

IT was heart-rending to know about the PIA Fokker crash near Multan airport. This is not the first time that PIA’s Fokker crashed; rather it was the third time when a PIA Fokker crashed killing everyone on-board. The question remains, why PIA hasn’t grounded the old aircrafts like Fokker driven by old and unreliable engines? What makes the situation even worse is that time and again PIA keeps on increasing the fares without improving their fleet or services. Why is it that the Fokkers have not been grounded even when their time has long been expired? According to the statement of a passenger who travelled on the same aircraft from Lahore to Multan on the same day, the aircraft had some problems with it and its air conditioner had stopped functioning. Clarification by the PIA authorities on this issue is a lame excuse. They didn’t bother to check the aircraft completely and only after an interval of one hour it was heading back to Lahore, which resulted in massacre. It was not just the death of 45 passengers; it was the death of 45 minds that robbed the nation of its assets. It is requested that the negligent be brought to justice.