‘Deadline syndrome’ behind unsafe dengue spray

[Devil Soul]

‘Deadline syndrome’ behind unsafe dengue spray
INTIKHAB HANIF — UPDATED 23 MINUTES AGO

LAHORE: The removal of the local government secretary due to the unsafe anti-dengue sprays in Attock and Jhelum may affect the department’s major activity of assisting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding the forthcoming local elections initially in eight districts of Punjab.

“It’s like removing an army general in the middle of war,” remarked a senior official on the condition of anonymity wondering how many days the new incumbent will take to get acclimatised to the task of assisting the local elections and preparing for the related urgent matters needed to be addressed to for facilitating the new councils and running their administrative and financial matters.

Insiders say that the two incidents of unsafe anti-dengue sprays by private establishments that affected scores of schoolchildren took place more because of the pressure on the heads of educational institutions to adopt such measures than any other reason.

They say that the heads of schools all over the province were directed to arrange for the sprays by any means or face suspensions from service or even arrests. And this threat had been compelling them to do the needful at any cost.

They say originally the district governments were to regulate the anti-dengue sprays mainly through TMOs. But in many instances either the number of schools was too much for the TMOs concerned to handle or they were simply leaving it up to the schools heads to have their institutions sprayed. And what dominated the minds of the headmasters or headmistresses was to have the spray privately to avoid punishment without realising that the unregulated activity might prove dangerous for their staff and students.

They say that instead of locating the root cause of the problem the chief minister thought it fit to remove secretaries health, school education and especially local government. The prime responsibility of the secretary local government at the moment was to assist the ECP in holding the local elections and not to ensure anti-dengue sprays in schools and his removal on Saturday was a surprise for many.

They say that the local government secretary was coordinating with the ECP on matters relating to the local elections in the appointment of election staff. He fully knew the subject and the new incumbent who is still to be appointed will require time to understand it.

The government had a few days ago appointed a special secretary in the department but the officer lacks experience to run it especially when local elections are being held.

The tasks which the outgoing secretary was handling include constituting an interim finance committee for the new local bodies and later forming a finance commission for them. He was also arranging for the maiden sessions for the new bodies, issuance of working guidelines to their elected members, and transfer of assets of the existing local governments to them.

“Unsafe anti-dengue spray is a governance issue. And there is a need to determine who should do what,” an official remarked.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2015