Misplaced priorities

Everybody knows that the cost of the metro-bus project is far too high and it does not take a great economist to point out that our priority should be education and health. Such expensive projects can facilitate a very small percentage of the urban population at the expense of millions of starved, unhealthy and uneducated Pakistanis.
The project has already overshot its targets – both in time and money. It cannot even be abandoned at this stage. The only option is to finish it as quickly as possible and never take up such mega projects till our country overcomes issues like energy, education, health and above all security. How can our leaders be so insensitive to the basic needs of the masses and keep living in their own make-believe worlds? How can they imitate countries that have successfully gone through the initial development phase and have no shortage of basic necessities of life? The government has to improve its governance, show competence and efficiency. Otherwise, it will keep coming out of one crisis and plunging into another.
Zaheer Shiekh
Islamabad