Renovation waste

This refers to the news report, ‘PM for providing sophisticated facilities to passengers at airports’ (May 19). The Benazir Bhutto International Airport has been renovated at the cost of Rs460 million, which also includes a delta taxiway, costing Rs450 million that the authorities claim will help save Rs120 million in two months in fuel cost.
Development plans that benefit people are always welcome but then money should be spent where it is rightly needed like at the Lahore and Karachi airports. The renovation of the airport was in the pipeline but it was not taken up because a new Benazir Bhutto International Airport is under construction in Islamabad. There was no justification in spending such a huge amount on the renovation and the taxiway that is ultimately to be handed back to the Pakistan Air Force. Second, the claim of saving Rs60 million per month in fuel cost is highly exaggerated. In fact, PIA has limited flights as compared to foreign and private airlines, which will be the major beneficiaries. It is time Nawaz Sharif looked into schemes that are primarily designed to appease him and to get some kind of favour – but at what cost?
Mukhtar Ahmed
Karachi