Of post-facto and poor management practices
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Shamsher Chowdhury
IF only our rulers were a little more disciplined, less complacent and had a proper vision, the country would have been better off today. They spend considerable time aligning and realigning their axis of power. The moment they are in the seat of power they begin to view themselves as a privileged class. The result -- in the shortest possible time, they become detached and isolated from the common man. Soon they are lost in their make-belief world.
In any management intervention whether at state level or otherwise timing is of the real essence. Besides, each and every decision has to be well thought out before it can finally be made into part of the implementation process. We frequently come across decisions and actions that are taken either too early or too late. Also this aspect is noted at state-level decisions that are often either ignored or not implemented. Decision after decision taken even at the cabinet level is not implemented. As a result of this, problems keep piling up until they explode.
Take for instance the recent incidents of fire and the faulty structures, 119 valuable lives are lost, families have become destitute, yet matter of faulty structures all over the capital city including the old town is nothing new. It has been there for years. Experts have pointed out on several occasions the hazards these faulty buildings pose as a threat to lives of people and the environment. Each time an incident takes place, administration wakes up almost all too suddenly. Government and the concerned agencies jump into action for a while, thereafter business as usual. Some structures are demolished, some are not. Everybody is happy, RAJUK and owners of the faulty structures go home to rest only to return revitalised to continue with their heinous acts.
We are hoping against hope that at least this time things would be better and decisive. Although we are already somewhat suspicious about this whole business of 22 storied apartment complex which apparently developed some cracks and subsequently the residents vacated the place in a panic only to return once again in less than 24 hours, upon assurance of its safety both by experts and the builder. Besides whether the structure is safe or not, the question, however, remains as to who would compensate, if at all, for this unprecedented disruption in the lives of the concerned residents. Henceforth people living in the complex will do so in perpetual fear for the rest of their lives. Who can ever compensate for their being in perpetual fear? Government and all concerned must also realise that it is their sacred duty to ensure security, safety and a peaceful environment for the people at large. On the contrary what we see is fear and panic added to their long list of miseries.
Every time a disaster of the kind takes place we hear of an Enquiry Committee being constituted with the promise of stern actions to be taken against those guilty as per recommendations of the Committee. Tragically though, to this day victims and accused alike have never been fully apprised of the findings of any Committee. We also wonder as to why to this day no major action has been taken against RAJUK officials or the builders. Surely authorities are aware of the fact that most of the city's high-rise buildings -- whether apartment complexes or otherwise, do not have either fire fighting equipment or active water hydrants to combat emergency fire hazards. It hardly requires a Committee to find that and then go for actions. Just give the defaulters a reasonable time frame and in the event of failure to meet the deadline, go for stern action against respective defaulters
Media feeds us with daily dose of deaths on the roads. Almost 18 months since the ruling party took charge of the government, all we hear is about lofty projects being under way by way of flyovers and circular railways etc. Be that as it may, but we fail to connect this with the deaths on the roads. No point in blaming the extraordinary traffic jam alone Fault also lies on the shoulders of BRTA and the traffic police on duty and other law enforcing agencies. Every now and then we come across reports in the media about thousands of fake license holders driving on the roads of the capital. We hear of thousands of unfit vehicles plying on the roads. Yet there is no evidence of real action in addressing these issues except for periodic "display" of half-hearted measures by way of checking vehicles and verifying of some related documents.
Surely we do not need a high powered committee to ascertain what actions should be taken. It is most annoying when we come across totally unfit vehicles of all descriptions continue to ply on the streets whereas honest owners of perfectly fit vehicles in particular have to pay bribes to obtain fitness certificates. Renewing of documents for vehicles have become a yearly nightmare for the honest and the retirees. They have to undergo the ordeal more since they do not have access to the services of any knowledgeable and able bodied help. To complicate matters, rules of updating documents keep changing every year with the existing system being complicated enough and highly cumbersome. .
A careful look at what has been said in the forgoing would tell us that most of our major mishaps and disasters are due to failures of the timely interventions on the part of the administration. We often "refuse" to handle or deal with an issue until it reaches a critical mass. Look at the emerging turmoil in our RMG sector the story is the same there too.
We need to put our acts together on a stronger foundation. We must understand as to what should be done today and what the next day, alongside the larger picture of needed interventions. The big and comparatively smaller issues of no less magnitude must be tackled simultaneously. One has to remember that it is often smaller issues that cause a democratic government to fail.
The writer can be reached at e-mail : chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com
IF only our rulers were a little more disciplined, less complacent and had a proper vision, the country would have been better off today. They spend considerable time aligning and realigning their axis of power. The moment they are in the seat of power they begin to view themselves as a privileged class. The result -- in the shortest possible time, they become detached and isolated from the common man. Soon they are lost in their make-belief world.
In any management intervention whether at state level or otherwise timing is of the real essence. Besides, each and every decision has to be well thought out before it can finally be made into part of the implementation process. We frequently come across decisions and actions that are taken either too early or too late. Also this aspect is noted at state-level decisions that are often either ignored or not implemented. Decision after decision taken even at the cabinet level is not implemented. As a result of this, problems keep piling up until they explode.
Take for instance the recent incidents of fire and the faulty structures, 119 valuable lives are lost, families have become destitute, yet matter of faulty structures all over the capital city including the old town is nothing new. It has been there for years. Experts have pointed out on several occasions the hazards these faulty buildings pose as a threat to lives of people and the environment. Each time an incident takes place, administration wakes up almost all too suddenly. Government and the concerned agencies jump into action for a while, thereafter business as usual. Some structures are demolished, some are not. Everybody is happy, RAJUK and owners of the faulty structures go home to rest only to return revitalised to continue with their heinous acts.
We are hoping against hope that at least this time things would be better and decisive. Although we are already somewhat suspicious about this whole business of 22 storied apartment complex which apparently developed some cracks and subsequently the residents vacated the place in a panic only to return once again in less than 24 hours, upon assurance of its safety both by experts and the builder. Besides whether the structure is safe or not, the question, however, remains as to who would compensate, if at all, for this unprecedented disruption in the lives of the concerned residents. Henceforth people living in the complex will do so in perpetual fear for the rest of their lives. Who can ever compensate for their being in perpetual fear? Government and all concerned must also realise that it is their sacred duty to ensure security, safety and a peaceful environment for the people at large. On the contrary what we see is fear and panic added to their long list of miseries.
Every time a disaster of the kind takes place we hear of an Enquiry Committee being constituted with the promise of stern actions to be taken against those guilty as per recommendations of the Committee. Tragically though, to this day victims and accused alike have never been fully apprised of the findings of any Committee. We also wonder as to why to this day no major action has been taken against RAJUK officials or the builders. Surely authorities are aware of the fact that most of the city's high-rise buildings -- whether apartment complexes or otherwise, do not have either fire fighting equipment or active water hydrants to combat emergency fire hazards. It hardly requires a Committee to find that and then go for actions. Just give the defaulters a reasonable time frame and in the event of failure to meet the deadline, go for stern action against respective defaulters
Media feeds us with daily dose of deaths on the roads. Almost 18 months since the ruling party took charge of the government, all we hear is about lofty projects being under way by way of flyovers and circular railways etc. Be that as it may, but we fail to connect this with the deaths on the roads. No point in blaming the extraordinary traffic jam alone Fault also lies on the shoulders of BRTA and the traffic police on duty and other law enforcing agencies. Every now and then we come across reports in the media about thousands of fake license holders driving on the roads of the capital. We hear of thousands of unfit vehicles plying on the roads. Yet there is no evidence of real action in addressing these issues except for periodic "display" of half-hearted measures by way of checking vehicles and verifying of some related documents.
Surely we do not need a high powered committee to ascertain what actions should be taken. It is most annoying when we come across totally unfit vehicles of all descriptions continue to ply on the streets whereas honest owners of perfectly fit vehicles in particular have to pay bribes to obtain fitness certificates. Renewing of documents for vehicles have become a yearly nightmare for the honest and the retirees. They have to undergo the ordeal more since they do not have access to the services of any knowledgeable and able bodied help. To complicate matters, rules of updating documents keep changing every year with the existing system being complicated enough and highly cumbersome. .
A careful look at what has been said in the forgoing would tell us that most of our major mishaps and disasters are due to failures of the timely interventions on the part of the administration. We often "refuse" to handle or deal with an issue until it reaches a critical mass. Look at the emerging turmoil in our RMG sector the story is the same there too.
We need to put our acts together on a stronger foundation. We must understand as to what should be done today and what the next day, alongside the larger picture of needed interventions. The big and comparatively smaller issues of no less magnitude must be tackled simultaneously. One has to remember that it is often smaller issues that cause a democratic government to fail.
The writer can be reached at e-mail : chowdhury.shamsher@yahoo.com