Dear Sir,
The letter, “Payment woes hit companies” (Gulf Times, May 28), touches on a serious topic which, one hopes, will get due attention from the government. If companies are not paid promptly for the jobs they do, it affects various sectors and the general economy suffers.
Regular payment of salaries to workers is an essential part of the new labour code. Companies have been asked to give salaries to their employees through banks. This is an excellent measure taken by the government and it has won wide acclaim. But the cash flow must be maintained without any major interruptions to run the new salary payment system smoothly.
Companies undertaking various jobs related to construction have to pay their dues to material suppliers and units that have helped them in completing the work. If the cash flow is not regular, it will have a chain reaction, affecting these suppliers and units.
The cash flow crisis, if it continues, can be detrimental to businesses, as pointed by the letter writer. This seems to be a new phenomenon as previously most companies seemed happy about the way payments were sanctioned to them. There were only very few cases of delay and mostly they used to have good reasons for them. But now it seems to be general in nature.
One hopes the authorities concerned will look into this and take immediate action to sort the problem out.
RIT
(Full name and e-mail address supplied)
Solve basic problems first
Dear Sir,
The recent visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to India received wide media coverage in both countries. Both countries have agreed to ease visa restrictions, increase trade and resolve disputes through dialogues. But the reality is that without solving their long disputes between the two countries, cosmetic steps and media speeches will not bring any change to the region.
Despite growing poverty and unemployment, both the countries are spending huge amounts of money on arm purchases. Tension remains high at borders. In case of any terror activity in India, New Delhi accuses Pakistan of terrorism and Pakistan, on its turn, sees an Indian hand in unrest in North-West Frontier and Baluchistan provinces. Unfortunately, governments in the two countries are also not able to make any decisions which could go against the wishes of hardline elements of extremist parties.
Several key issues Kashmir, Siachen and construction of controversial dams also make things bad to worse. Pakistan has recently decided to move the International Court of Arbitration against the construction of the Kishanganga dam. A proxy war is also going on in Afghanistan between both countries. Until and unless both countries are able to solve basic issues like these, dreams of peace can’t come true in the region.
Khawaja Umer Farooq
ofarooq@emailsrvc.com