'How will we earn?': Pakistani workers struggle as inflation hammers construction industry

Construction workers are waiting for customers in Karachi’s Ranchore Line market on March 14, 2023. (AN Photo)
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Updated 17 March 2023
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'How will we earn?': Pakistani workers struggle as inflation hammers construction industry

  • Builders association says 50 percent construction projects in Pakistan halted amid high costs of doing business
  • 25 million Pakistani workers associated with construction industry and nearly 10 million now facing unemployment

KARACHI: Every morning, construction worker Jamal Shah goes to Karachi’s busy Burns Road where he and dozens of laborers sit by the roadside, waiting to get a gig for the day working on one of the commercial capital’s mega building projects.

For months now, the 35-year-old said he sits at his usual spot from 8am. Night falls but no one comes to offer work.

Shah is among perhaps hundreds of thousands of Pakistani daily wage workers who have lost their livelihoods as the rising cost of doing business has led many industries in Pakistan, including construction, to scale down operations.

Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) jumped 31.5 percent in February year-on-year, according to the statistics bureau, the highest annual rate in nearly 50 years, as food, beverage and transportation prices surged more than 45 percent. The government is currently in talks to secure an IMF bailout deal, which will offer a critical lifeline to avert an economic meltdown.

“We come here at 8 and sit here till 5pm in this scorching sun, but we get no work. The reason? The reason is only inflation,” Shah, who has to send money to his family in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur region, said. “How will we earn?”

Noor Hussain, 30, said the Rs200-300 that daily wage laborers earned a day, which is a little over a dollar, was hardly enough for himself, and left him with nothing to send back to his family in Sindh’s Larkana district.

“I have three kids, my mother, because of inflation we are very worried,” he said. “Sometimes there is work, sometimes there isn’t.”

According to the Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) and the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), the construction sector employs around 7.61 percent of Pakistan’s total labor force and provides a stimulus to more than 72 allied industries.

ABAD recently sent out a distress signal to the government, asking for relief amid the economic crisis, particularly that the government allow opening letters of credit for the import of steel and other raw materials to keep the industrial wheel in motion.

With foreign exchange reserves with the central bank currently standing at barely enough to cover a month’s imports, the government has restricted the import of goods, including industrial raw materials, to stop dollar outflows.

“At the moment, 50 percent of construction projects carried out by the industry have stopped, and the rest are likely to face the same fate due to the steel and cement prices,” Nadeem Yousuf Jeewa, ABAD vice chairman, told Arab News.

“Steel, which was available for Rs160,000 per ton about a year ago, is now available for Rs300,000,” he added. “This means that the per square foot cost that was Rs3,000 nearly a year ago has gone up to Rs6,000 and beyond the planned cost of projects.”

Jeewa said about 25 million workers were associated with the industry and nearly 10 million were now facing the spectre of unemployment.

“This means that those who were getting a job daily are now able to get it only two or three times a week,” he said. “This is how much they are affected.”

The ABAD vice chairman said the association had urged the government to allow steel imports from neighboring countries like Iran and India, where prices were much lower:

“In Iran, the price is about $600 per ton, and in India, it is somewhere near $700. In Pakistan, the price is as high as about $1,100.”

Shamoon Baker Ali, the chairman of the Karachi Iron and Steel Merchants Association (KISMA), told Arab News the price of rebar, or steel, used in construction had increased by about 50 percent since last year.

“If the government allows the import of rebar from China, the prices will go down, and cheap rebar will also be available in Pakistan,” he said.

The decline in the number of building projects in the country has also impacted the production and sale of cement in Pakistan, dealers, and manufacturers said.

The average price of cement had increased to about Rs1,155 per bag in Pakistan from Rs749, recorded in March 2022.

Data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association earlier this month showed overall cement dispatches had dropped by 16.65 percent during the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year, compared to the corresponding period last year.

“Earlier, every shopkeeper would sell 200 to 300 bags per day,” cement dealer Muhammad Arif said, “but the sales today have dropped to 20 to 25 bags only, and the reason for that is inflation.”


United Nations to review international commitments on Pakistan’s post-flood reconstruction today

Updated 11 sec ago
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United Nations to review international commitments on Pakistan’s post-flood reconstruction today

  • The UN and Pakistan co-hosted a conference in Geneva to marshal funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation
  • The bilateral and multilateral donors committed over $9 billion, though not much of that amount was released

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to hold an informal meeting in New York on Wednesday to review the outcome of commitments made by the international community to support flood-affected families in Pakistan following the monsoon devastation of last year.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani expressed optimism last week that the financial pledges made by various bilateral and multilateral donors to help Pakistan carry out reconstruction activities would soon materialize.

His statement came months after the United Nations and Pakistan co-hosted a conference in Geneva to generate the funds needed to rebuild homes, roads and railway tracks that were washed away by flash floods, submerging much of the country and displacing millions of people.

According to estimates, Pakistan needed $16.3 billion for reconstruction activities, with participants at the event committing over $9 billion.

“The informal meeting will hear a briefing on the implementation of General Assembly Resolution 77/1, passed last year in October 2022, which expressed ‘solidarity and support for the Government and the people of Pakistan and the strengthening of emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and prevention in the wake of the recent devastating floods,’” said the curtain-raiser for the upcoming meeting, released by Pakistan’s permanent mission at the UN.

“UN Secretary-General H.E. Antonio Guterres will share the update with the participants of the meeting,” it added.

The General Assembly resolution sought to “sensitize the international community” to Pakistan’s reconstruction needs and “mobilize effective, immediate, and adequate international support and assistance.”

Prior to its passage, the UN secretary-general visited Pakistan to witness the extent of flood damages and noted that the country had experienced “a monsoon on steroids” that had devastated much of its southern regions.

Pakistan has since called for the required global assistance, pointing out that the world needs to collectively deal with the growing issue of climate change.

It was also at the forefront of efforts to establish a loss and damages fund at COP27 in Egypt, aimed at assisting those nations facing the brunt of erratic weather patterns without contributing significantly to global warming.


A rocket launcher shell accidentally explodes at a home in southern Pakistan and 8 people are dead

Updated 8 min 32 sec ago
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A rocket launcher shell accidentally explodes at a home in southern Pakistan and 8 people are dead

  • Police believe family members took unexploded shell home after finding it at nearby farm
  • City of Kandhkot where the explosion took place is known as hideout of robbers and criminals 

KARACHI: A shell of a rocket launcher apparently accidentally exploded at a home in a remote village in southern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least eight people, including women and children, police said.

At least two people were also wounded in the blast in southern Sindh province, said regional police chief Rahil Khoso.

Investigators believe that family members took the unexploded shell home after finding it at a nearby open farm field. Such blasts often happen when people try to dismantle unexploded ammunition to sell as scrap metal.

The city of Kandhkot, where the explosion took place, is known as a hideout of robbers and criminals who are well armed, including with rockets. Security forces have launched operations against criminals in the area.


Pakistani cabbies struggle to stay on the road as fuel costs hack pay

Updated 24 min 27 sec ago
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Pakistani cabbies struggle to stay on the road as fuel costs hack pay

  • On Sept. 15, Pakistan announced a record rise in petrol and diesel prices, second big increase in two weeks
  • Spiraling fuel costs and inflation have left Islamabad cab drivers with reduced incomes, no alternative means of livelihood

ISLAMABAD: Khairullah Khan, a 50-year-old taxi driver, remembers a time when he could fill his tank with cheap fuel to drive passengers across the Pakistani capital and take home enough money for food, drink and a decent life for his wife and nine children. 

Today, spiraling fuel costs and soaring inflation mean he is left at the end of a busy day with less than a few dollars in earnings. 

Last week, parked under a tree near a bustling market in Islamabad, Khan waited for customers but said rising fuel costs had driven most of his clients away.

On Sept. 15, Pakistan announced a record rise in petrol and diesel prices — by 26.02 rupees to 331.38 rupees a liter and by 17.34 rupees to 329.18 rupees a liter, respectively — the second big increase in two weeks for the South Asian nation already struggling with high inflation. A $3 billion loan program, approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, averted a sovereign debt default in Pakistan but reforms linked to the bailout have fueled annual inflation running at 27.4 percent.

“We have no work, no income, we are ready to kill ourselves,” Khan, who has been plying the streets of Islamabad since 1991, told Arab News. “It has become very difficult to make ends meet now.” 

Khairullah Khan, a 50-year-old taxi driver, is pictured sitting in a roadside cafe in Islamabad, Pakistan on September 19, 2023. (AN photo)

Khan complained that customers were now unwilling to pay the high cost of rides that drivers were forced to charge due to new fuel prices.

“When we raise the fares, people argue that they are not responsible for the fuel prices so why should they pay higher costs,” the cabbie said.

Yellow cab driver Talib Hussain, 47, said now even “middle class people” could not afford taxi rides.

“I have not had any customers since morning, neither have any other cabbies standing here,” he said, pointing to a line of cabs behind his car.

Hussain said he used to make almost Rs25,000 ($85.6) per month last year but now took home barely Rs 8-10,000 ($27-34) monthly.

“If we [family] were eating thrice a day [last year], now we can only afford to eat one meal per day. Earlier my kids used to go to school by a van but now they have to walk to school every day. I have enrolled them in a government school because I could not afford to pay for private schools.”

An employee waits for customers at a fuel station in Islamabad, Pakistan on September 25, 2023. (AN photo)

Many drivers who work with ride hailing apps like Uber, Careem, Bykea and InDrive reported a 50-60 percent decrease in average income compared to last year.

“The way fuel prices have increased, the rates per kilometer have not been increased the same way [by the ride-hailing company] which has resulted in a 50-60 percent drop in our incomes,” part time cabbie Naveed Alam said.

“If I was saving Rs 1,000 ($3.42) per day from this work last year, now I can barely save Rs600 ($2) … Customers have decreased, and fuel prices have doubled, which has reduced our income manifold.”

An InDrive bike rider who only identified himself by his first name, Usman, said he earned Rs1,000 ($3.42) per ride last year while burning Rs200 ($0.68) on fuel.

“Now for the same job, the fuel costs us around Rs 500-600 ($2),” he said, adding that maintenance costs for his bike had also doubled. “The fuel costs have almost doubled, and inflation has also increased so much, which has made our lives very difficult.”

Many cab drivers said the price hikes were forcing them to seek alternative means of livelihood, an uphil task, or get a second job.

“We toil for over 18 hours a day, yet we are unable to cover our expenses,” said Vilayat Khan, a cab driver in Islamabad who has been associated with the profession for the last 28 years. “But to start any other work we need investment, but we don’t have any money to invest, we don’t even own the cars we are driving.”

Bykea motorcycle driver Haider Ali Bykea said he saw no silver lining in the clouds:

“People like us will be forced to end our lives … what else can we do? I have five kids, how do I feed them? How is a poor man supposed to survive?”


Punjab health minister says lack of ‘informed consent’ led to blindness caused by experimental drug

Updated 27 September 2023
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Punjab health minister says lack of ‘informed consent’ led to blindness caused by experimental drug

  • Nearly 70 patients of diabetes across the province suffered vision loss after being administered Avastin medicine
  • The drug is primarily used to treat cancer but is also prescribed for diabetic retinopathy-related edema in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Punjab’s interim health minister Dr. Javed Akram announced on Tuesday an experimental medication suspected of causing vision loss among dozens of diabetics across the province was administered by hospitals without following proper procedures that included obtaining “informed consent” from patients.

Nearly 70 individuals from various districts in Punjab reported eye infections leading to blindness in recent weeks after receiving injections of Avastin. The medication is primarily used to treat cancer but is also prescribed off-label in Pakistan for diabetic retinopathy-related edema.

Pakistan imposed a temporary ban on the drug earlier this week after patients began losing their vision and initiated an inquiry to assign responsibility.

In a media briefing in Lahore, the provincial health minister said the off-label use of any medication required prior authorization from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

“This did not happen,” he clarified. “Moreover, the good clinical practice of securing informed consent [from patients in such cases] was also not followed.”

Dr. Akram emphasized that it was mandatory to seek a patient’s consent “in the local language when administering an experimental drug.”

He disclosed that the government had now decided to require audiovisual recordings from hospital authorities, demonstrating that patients had been clearly informed of the benefits and risks associated with off-label medication use.

The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to bringing those responsible for this criminal negligence to justice and confirmed that Avastin would be available only for cancer treatment while the inquiry continued.


Minister says Pakistan to finalize first artificial intelligence policy by December

Updated 27 September 2023
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Minister says Pakistan to finalize first artificial intelligence policy by December

  • The information technology minister says it is important to help people develop AI skills since they are quite valuable
  • The government is setting up a policy committee of experts from IT industry and academia to finalize the draft policy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interim information technology minister Umar Saif said on Tuesday his team had prepared the draft of the National Artificial Intelligence Policy and was currently in consultation with relevant stakeholders to finalize it by December.
Artificial intelligence, often abbreviated as AI, refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence. These tasks include learning from data, recognizing patterns, making decisions, and solving problems. AI aims to create machines that can mimic human-like thinking and decision-making processes.
With this technology becoming more readily accessible, governments and private sectors across the world are beginning to reap its benefit while performing day-to-day functions. Pakistan’s planning ministry also acknowledged in April the AI incorporation in different government sectors would lead to better decision-making processes, personalized medical treatments, and enhanced learning experiences and solutions that were previously unattainable.
“There are far reaching consequences of this policy,” the information minister told Arab News in a brief conversation. “We have put it for public consultation. There is a draft which helped us get public comments from outside as well as inside the country … We need to train people to develop AI skills according to the policy since they can be quite valuable.”
“My goal is to finalize and notify this AI policy by December,” he continued.
Syed Junaid Imam, the spokesperson for the information technology ministry, also informed Arab News the country’s official artificial intelligence would be finalized after consultation with all stakeholders before being sent to the federal cabinet for approval.
“It is based on four main points,” he said while sharing details. “Enabling AI through awareness and readiness, AI market enablement, building a progressive and trusted environment, and its transformation and evolution.”
A recent notification by the information ministry said it was “forming a policy committee that will lead the policy consultation process and finalize the draft,” adding that the members of the committee would have experts from industry, academia and the government.
“The National AI Policy is crafted to focus on the equitable distribution of opportunity and its responsible use, having the defining attributes such as evidence-based and target oriented, user-centric and forward-looking, objective and overarching,” according to the draft of the policy, a copy of which was seen by the Arab News.
The draft also outlined how Pakistan would collaborate with other countries to share best practices and expertise in the AI field.
“The policy proposed the establishment of an AI regulatory directorate that ensures the ethical and responsible use of AI,” it read.
The draft policy also addressed the potential job displacement that could result from the global proliferation of the new technology.
“AI can help to promote economic growth by encouraging investment in AI research and development which can lead to the creation of new jobs and industries, as well as improved productivity and efficiency,” it said.
It further stated that owing to the impact of artificial globally, the Pakistani government envisioned embracing it by appreciating human intelligence and stimulating a hybrid intelligence ecosystem for equitable, responsible and transparent AI use.