BY

Evasion of duties and taxes by the business and industrial sector is the favorite gripe of the revenue collectors. Not a day goes by without someone in the government’s financial hierarchy blaming this community for the rampant evasions and mis-declarations. Goods are over-invoiced when exported and under-invoiced when imported. Evasion, however, is not done by a one-man band. It requires, to a very large degree, the connivance, cooperation, and ingenuity of the members of the collection authorities for it to be successful.

Customs duty evasion is one hot tamale. To counter this menace and to increase the inflow of revenues from the Customs Collectorate, the CBR undertook certain remedial measures. It appointed two Swiss firms, COTECNA and SGS to do pre-shipment inspection and to issue their Clean Report of Findings on the goods imported into the country. These contracts have not been given to anyone in the country’s private sector, nor to a new breed of revenue collectors, nor to anyone else in this nation of 130 million. The contracts were handed on a silver platter to what in cricket is called "neutral umpires".

The two foreign firms got their act together with gusto and speed. They went all hog in proving to the CBR and whoever appointed them, that they are the panacea to Pakistan’s problem of loss in revenue to the Treasury. All of a sudden, the importers found out that the gravy train has derailed and that there will be no more "advantages" in slicing off the cream from the invoices. The two companies determined their own prices for the imported goods and made sure that their decision was sacrosanct.

The appointment of COTECNA and SGS should have been welcomed by the business community as well as the Customs Collectorate. The PSI system was perceived as the introduction of a system thru which the innumerable disputes in Customs, particularly of valuation, shall cease and that smooth clearance of goods would take place without indulgence in red-tapism, corruption, and chicanery, both by the importers as well as the Customs authorities. Of course, the very appointment of these two companies brazenly proves that all is not well with the present Customs structure and that in order to make the Customs into an efficient department, there was an urgent need for a third party.

However, as is always the case, the emoluments paid to these two companies are a state secret, like the Ojri Blast Report or the Hamood-ur-Rehman Report. As always there is no transparency in this project too. As always there is this suspicion that a lot of money will be channeled back to the concerned people in the form of the ubiquitous kickback. Thus the CBR is happy, the two Swiss firms are happy, the beneficiaries of this project are happy. To hell with the business and industrial community, as always.

The appointment of these two foreign firms gives ideas for bringing in foreign agencies and personnel in other departments too. Take the case of the police department. The police force in Pakistan is notorious for its inefficiency, corruption, and indifference. The case history of Karachi is one such example. There is lawlessness all over the city. Dacoities, kidnappings, car-snatching, etc., are a manifestation of the lackadaisical approach adopted by the police force. It is now a matter of record that the police in Karachi have totally failed to perform and the very word police has become anathema to the denizens of this City of Strikes. No wonder one of the erstwhile Sindh Governors had to form the CPLC, because things were really going out of hand. Alas, CPLC too has its limitations although it has been a source of blessings for Karachiites.

To meet the needs of the city, it is imperative that a methodical, pragmatic, and emphatic approach be planned so that the ominous danger to the citizens is checked. Therefore, it is proposed that the administrative control of the Karachi Police be given on contract to a foreign agency, such as the Scotland Yard. It will be upto the Yard personnel to infuse latest crime-busting tactics in the system, inculcate a sense of devotion to duty in the policemen, and inspire public confidence in the police. The best part will be that since they will be shielded from the pressures of influential people, they will concentrate wholly and solely towards attaining the desired objective, that is, making Karachi a crime-free city.

Furthermore, with Scotland Yard devoting itself to tackling crime and maintaining law and order, the rest of the police can continue with performing non-crime related functions. The protocol duty is one such example. The top echelons of police are always at the beck and call of the VVIPs. They have to welcome and see-off these dignitaries, attend monotonous functions and rallies, and involve themselves in "pleasure duties" such as witnessing hockey and cricket matches. Thus the top brass can devote themselves in this pursuit and leave crime control to the foreign sleuths. If this system works, then the chaotic traffic administration can also be contracted to, say, the Bobbies of London. The new system would naturally also diffuse the prevailing tension on the roads and streets of Karachi.

The country is waiting with anticipation to the eventual privatization of the presently despicable telephone network. Inspite of modernization and the state-of-art equipment, the prevailing lethargic attitude of the personnel precludes any reduction in consumer complaints. Although the Ministry of Communications wants to take Pakistan into the next century with the cellular phones, video phones, and other gadgetry, the telephone system is still screwed up with drop calls, dead phones, wrong numbers, inflated bills, and what not. The PTC should be immediately handed over to the strategic investor or else, the country can never be part of the communications revolution.

The nationalized banks are another example of incompetence. The handing over of MCB and ABL thru privatization, the setting up of banks in the private sector, and the proliferation of leasing and modarabha companies, did a world of good to the financial sector. The present pathetic state of HBL,UBL, and NBP gives urgency to their privatization otherwise these institutions will further slip down the financial totem pole. If the government cannot bring itself to privatizing these three banks, it should hand over the management to the gnomes of Switzerland. Hopefully, the over-staffed, highly-unionized, low-output, workforce can be reined in. The government should not be cowed down by the languid unionists who seldom put in a day’s toil, and are in the forefront in trumpeting pooped-out rhetoric, and at the same time regurgitating nonsensical figures of progress and efficiency.

The country’s various agencies, departments, and corporations are paradigms of disaster. There is a need to evaluate the anarchy prevalent in these mish-mash organizations, there is a need to check the aggravation of losses, there is a need to manage the capricious system of mal-administration, there is a need to outlaw the ignominious practice of nepotism, there is a need to eliminate appointment of "sifarshi" personnel thru a lateral system, and there is a need to do away with the policy of scorn and contempt for the consumer or the citizen. It is proposed that these agencies or departments, and those corporations which are not being privatized, be handed over to some worthwhile company of Germany to manage and to bring forth the desired metamorphosis in these organizations.

In 1989, the former Chairman of SITE Association of Industry, Nazim F. Haji, postulated the handing over of the Ministry of Finance to the World Bank. Although it was a sarcastic statement born out of sheer vexation, the thinking was on the right path. In fact, the brouhaha over IMF lording over the country thru its edicts, the appointment of COTECNA and SGS, etc., gives credence to the 1989 statement of the SITE Association’s views.

The appointment of COTECNA and SGS with all its benefits and negative aspects proves that there is a need for a Contract for Incompetence. Maybe, if things don’t improve, the future parliamentarians may also have to be imported from foreign shores. The country has had an imported Prime Minister for ninety days. Who knows, one more may just be waiting in the wings !