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Collapse of merchant marine

I would like to draw your attention to the technical section of the Ports and Shipping Ministry i.e. its Directorate General and the Mercantile Marine Department facing an acute shortage of surveyors and examiners for quite some time.

Unfortunately, the Federal Public Service Commission has not been able to find suitable candidates for these vacant posts due to huge gap between the government salary structure and the wages offered by the shipping industry.

Currently, of the 12 sanctioned posts for surveyors and examiners, only one position is filled by a nautical surveyor and no engineering surveyor and examiner is available.

The recently expired contracts of two engineering surveyors have still not been renewed by the competent authority. Consequently, the survey and certification work of all ships including the PNSC, safety and seaworthiness surveys of PQA and KPT crafts, the boat building industry, the fishing vessels, operation of lighthouses, bunker supply operation, shipping agents etc have all been adversely affected.

The careers of thousands of our seafarers are in jeopardy and therefore the officials in Islamabad will have to deal the problem on a war-footing basis.

Muhammad Manzoor Hussain

100pc school enrolment rate

It is heartening to see that the major political parties of Sindh have set aside their differences to pursue a common agenda – the achievement of 100 percent school enrolment rate in the province. But accomplishing such a goal is easier said than done. An effective strategy will be required to make this possible. The poor educational standard at the province’s government-run schools is one of the major reasons children do not go to school. To improve the quality of education teachers will have to be hired on the basis of merit. It is necessary to root out corruption from the education department. Only then can the dream of a literate Sindh be achieved.

Imdad Chandio

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