Refleksi : Bagaimana dengan "Aid Business" di NKRI? Sekian banyak profesor dan ahli ekonomi, koq tidak ada yang membuka tabir faktanya atau mungkin saja saya tidak tahu karena ketinggalan zaman.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\04\story_4-4-2010_pg3_3 Sunday, April 04, 2010 VIEW: The business of aid -Andleeb Abbas The net effect of aid is more dependence and more deterioration of the economy in the client country, while the aid agency and its networked organisations become financial powerhouses In this recession-hit world, where the biggest and the mightiest of corporations have crumbled and fallen, the most flourishing business is the business of aid organisations. By definition, they flourish when economies perish. As we see weak economies like Pakistan, Afghanistan and many African economies suffering from political instability and economic fragility, the aid agencies are finding a haven of clients who become their captive customers bound to dance to their tune. Aid agencies do not operate independently. They are the so-called donors or lenders of money to governments; they, in turn, have a network of their own consulting firms through whom they command their clients to operate in a fashion that is self-destructive and counter-productive. These consulting firms are a combination of foreign and local expertise that is prescribed to the client as a remedy for all the economic ailments facing these countries. These organisations appoint foreign consultants as the team leaders who are paid exorbitant amounts with splashy perks billed out of the aid money given to the borrowing country. The job of the consultant is to provide foolproof plans to overcome the issues faced by the country; however, the plans nearly always end up costing the country heavily in terms of socio-economic damage. The net effect of aid is more dependence and more deterioration of the economy in the client country, while the aid agency and its networked organisations become financial powerhouses. This is substantiated by research, facts and figures. In a book Confessions of an Economic Hitman, John Perkins, himself an economic hitman, goes on to uncover the ghastly world of these large American institutions nominated by aid agencies, whose main task is to go into countries with precious natural resources, and weak and corrupt governments, indebt them for life and subsequently run and ruin them to suit to their own ends of holding these governments to economic ransom. The mechanism to rob these countries is developed under the guise of these mega consulting firms, which team up with the aid agencies in the debtor countries to suggest projects of astronomical value, especially in the electricity and construction sectors. These projects can only be designed and managed by American companies like Main, Bechtel, Halliburton, etc. Thus, the public money goes to feed these companies, enriching the US empire and creating economic devastation in the client countries. From Bush senior to Bush junior, and from Robert McNamara to Dick Cheney, you will find their names financially linked to these organisations responsible for causing economic destruction. These loans are designed to perpetuate more borrowing as constant servicing of consulting firms, and accumulating interest rate on loans ensures that these countries reach default stage within a few years; then the economic mafia demands their pound of flesh. This pound of flesh is in the form of control over natural resources like oil in the case of Iraq and Ecuador, installation of military bases as in Pakistan, and the Panama Canal in case of Panama. In Ecuador, of every $ 100 of oil drilled, $ 75 goes to these organisations. Of the $ 25 left, most of it goes to paying back the debt and government and military expenses. For health and education hardly a couple of dollars are left. Is this not exactly what is happening in our country? The general public of these countries are deprived of the basic necessities for survival. Aid agencies sponsor two types of projects, i.e. physical infrastructure assignments dealing with tangible construction projects or awareness building social issue projects like changing people's attitude to family planning, child and mother health, poverty alleviation, etc. The problem with these projects is that they are normally operated on a 3-year basis. The first year is spent on writing terms of reference, hiring consultants to do assessments, designing plans etc, and the next two years on rolling them out. By the time the project irons out all its design and pilot testing issues, three years are over with hardly any goal of the project having been achieved. For the physical infrastructure projects some tangible evidence of roads or buildings, etc., may be visible, but for social issue projects very little evidence is found on what happened to the money being spent on all the awareness programmes. This normally results in another project being designed to find out the impact of these interventions, which leads to another astronomical hiring of consultants at the cost of the national taxpayer. Aid by definition is a very humiliating concept. It not only places the recipient in a very compromising situation, it also eats away the self-esteem of a nation. Aid agencies are not charity institutions. They are in the business of lending and, like all banks, they will put heavy conditionalities on their lending; they want, and usually do get, all their money back at every cost regardless of its socio-economic impact on the already suffering nation. We have witnessed its impact on our economy in the form of crippling inflation. The financial devastation in case of aid agencies is twofold. First, because the loans have to be paid back with public money through increase in taxes and hikes in tariffs and, second, the aid money is used to pay off consultants who are normally from the countries from where these institutions hail; thus the double jeopardy. As a business formula it is unbeatable. Lend money, control the client and make it spend from its own resources, borrowing more to pay off earlier loans. That is why countries like India years ago asked most of these agencies to pack up and leave as they discovered that they are not economic trouble-shooters but economic hitmen who, with their clever network of collaboration with expert firms, will nail you economically and erode you socially and morally, thereby crippling your independence and freedom. Pakistan is a very viable country with an abundance of natural resources. It has a huge reservoir of talented youth comprising 60 percent of the population. This combination of diversity of natural resources and the vibrancy of young human resources is almost unique in the world. All it needs is an honest man leading this country at the top. According to many economic experts in the country, eliminating corruption, removing government perks and developing functional literacy for our youth can easily, within a few years, provide employment to the unemployed and basic necessities to the public. There are enough resources within the country for developing a sovereign and self-reliant Pakistan; the precondition for such a transformation is leadership with integrity - a difficult but not impossible aspiration. The writer is a consultant and CEO of FranklinCovey and can be reached at [email protected]
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