KARACHI
All set and ready, the opening of the American consulate in Quetta and the shifting of the Karachi consulate to its new building has become a victim of the Pakistan bureaucracy.
“US authorities have made all arrangements for the establishment of a consulate in Quetta and the prime minister’s secretary has also issued an official approval, but the Pakistani bureaucracy is a major barrier in implementing this plan,” US Consul General William Martin said in an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today.
“The bureaucracy is also creating obstacles in the shifting of US Karachi consulate to its newly constructed building,” he added. The consul general said the delay in the establishment of the Quetta consulate has nothing to do with the law and order situation in Balochistan and the reason was bureaucratic red tapeism.
The visa service in Sindh will now start in 2011, he said. “The building where the consulate is operating now does not have sufficient space,” he added. The present building will be vacated once the new one becomes operational, he said.
MQM: Martin rejected the impression that the US favoured the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), saying that the party was a part of the federal and provincial governments and he would interact with representatives of other political parties also. His predecessors had been often observed to pay visits to the MQM headquarters.
“In Pakistan, there is a great deal of misunderstandings about the US, and vice versa. We must work to clear them,” he said, adding that the US supported democracy in Pakistan. Flood relief: Talking about the US’ relief efforts for the affectees, he said that within 36 hours the US government and its agencies had started helping the people of Pakistan.
American military had transported more than 9 million kilogrammes of relief goods to the flood-hit areas and had rescued over 23,000 people he said, adding, “There are 8 US military helicopters at the airbase near Sukkur and they are helping the Pakistani authorities. Several agencies including UNICEF, World Food Programme, Mercy Corps and others have worked to assist the flood survivors,” he said.
He said that the Kerry Luger Bill would not be affected by the flood operations and only $50 million from the allocated $500 million had been spent on the victims. The consul general said that the US is also spending $831 million on health, education and safe water, energy, irrigation and skill development schemes for Pakistan.
