Pakistan is blessed with enormous natural resources and hardworking human resources. However, what Pakistan has always lacked is a sense of direction, strong leadership, and sincere provincial harmony.
The civilian hierarchies or even the military juntas have never seriously sensed the imperative need to attain self-reliance through maximum utilization of domestic resources but have always looked up to external channels to manage the country's economy and its infrastructure. This policy has resulted in a situation where on the one hand the nation has the resources that can provide economic prosperity but on the other hand there is no political will nor is there enlightened vision to harness these resources.
Pakistan is categorized in the list of developing nations with the added supreme advantage of being in the exclusive nuclear club. This position is unique but it has brought about difficult times for the country, especially after the May 1998 nuclear test. Today, the nation's economic progress is hostage to an infrastructure scenario that is deteriorating, insufficient and inefficient. Today, the country is facing electricity shortage, dwindling gas reserves, and utter neglect of water conservation. Today, the motherland is being strangulated by the externally influenced 3 F disasters, i.e. food, fuel, and finance.
Pakistan is one country where despite financial wizards, pragmatic economists, and policy planners the country becomes susceptible to foreign influence and is not able to extricate itself from this domination. The 1999-2008 era may have been a mini economic success story, but the most negative downside had been the government's policy to put a break on new power projects. The governmental hierarchy, with all its wisdom, decided instead to offer its scarce power generating capacity to India, some 3000 MW worth of commitment. Thanks to the indecision that is the norm in Islamabad's officialdom, the project was scrapped because the Pakistani side could not accept the amount offered for every unit of electricity to be exported to India.Pakistan is at present in a deep political and economic crisis. The effects of imported inflation have impacted ruthlessly on the daily life of people. The escalating oil prices, the abnormal increase in wheat and rice prices, the falling rupee value, the flight of scarce capital to UAE and other havens, the saga of the judges, the uncertainty and inertia among the coalition partners, and the uncontrollable law and order situation have affected exports, have been tough on pocketbooks, and have brought the nation to the precipice of disaster. The only people rolling in money are the stockbrokers although they too have faced a mini jolt recently.
Pakistan is strategically at a vantage position. There is still resiliency in the people who still nurture the hope that Roti, Kapra, Makan, is not illusory but it is their destiny and that a day would come when it would not just be a slogan concocted by pseudo-socialists. However, if this slogan is to be a reality then efforts should have been made to achieve this objective. Unfortunately, Pakistan has always lacked pragmatic visionaries. Those who had the vision diverted their energies to power-grabbing, chicanery, and megalomania. Hence, the economic downslide was never addressed with sincerity. Thus, the physical and social infrastructure in this country left much to be desired. The quality of life is in the abyss of darkness for most of the citizens. The focus of the new government is not much different than its predecessors.
Pakistan has to survive and this can only be done through judicious and universal utilization of its natural and human resources. The first and foremost target should be to develop the infrastructure so that trade, industry, and services are able to function and provide employment. The Federal Board of Revenue, as always, stresses on revenue generation and nothing else. The financial managers of the government parrot the grand achievements made by the government by rattling off figures such as forex reserves, inflation, and GDP at domestic and international fora, such as at Davos, Baio, and Washington. At the end of the day, the House of Cards falls and all this rattling off becomes an international macabre joke.
Pakistan now has to do some serious soul-searching. It is time to look within rather than wait for dole outs at horrendous terms or wait for China to park some of its petty cash to boost Pakistan's forex reserves. It is time to take out the shovels and start digging. It is time for people in power to look to the future and transform the vain slogans into reality. It is time to build the infrastructure on an imperative basis.
Pakistan is facing its worst power crisis. Loadshedding up to twelve hours per day is now an everyday affair. Pakistanis spent over US$ 600 million this fiscal year to import generators and UPS. Line losses are unique in this country. According to one survey, over a quarter of total power generation disappears through line losses, theft, and due to obsolete equipment. This is nearly 100 billion kwh units. Pathetic and unmanageable. The bigwigs in WAPDA, KESC, and the DISCOs have a damn-care attitude and the ensuing result is this daily loadshedding.
Pakistan needs electricity. Thermal power is expensive and the country has to submit to the vagaries of international price mechanism. Hydro-electricity is still hostage to provincial distrust and is embroiled in parochialism. Alternate energy, such as wind power, bio-fuel, or solar energy is still victim to indecision. The immediate solution lies in utilizing coal for producing energy.
Pakistan is fortunate to have one of the world's largest reservoirs of coal. The coal reserves in Thar in Sindh are 184.123 billion tons making Pakistan the fifth largest in the world. At today's prices, this is worth over US$ 25 trillion. Other reserves in Sindh are at Lakhra, Jharruck, Badin, and Indus East. The coal producing areas in Balochistan are Duki, Sor Range, Harnai, Mach, Ghamalomg-Bahlol, and Pir Ismail Ziarat, etc. In NWFP the coal producing area is Hangu where resources are about 50 million tons but production is practically nothing. The situation in the province of Punjab is that there is a potential reserve of between 230-250 million tons while production is less than half a million tons. The coal areas are in the Eastern and Central Salt range an in Surghar Range.
Source: http://www.nation. com.pk/pakistan- news-newspaper- daily-english- online/Business/ 23-Jun-2008/ Coal-is-Pakistan s-economic- saviour