Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is riding a high horse after the recent victory in the NA-122 by-election. Time and again the party of the Punjabis has reinstated the fact that they will build a “naya” Pakistan through their extraordinary developmental projects, spearheaded by the Metro Bus.

Nawaz Sharif is indeed in love with such outrageous projects. He has a firm belief that projects such as the mighty Metro can change the fate of the poor Pakistani awaam. Recently it did indeed change the fate of at least one particular individual.

A young boy of mere 25 years of age could not withstand the wrath of the Metro and died at the district headquarter hospital Rawalpindi. The incident took place near the Marrer chowk station where a rock fell from the bridge causing the death of the ill-fated Pakistani. As his relatives wailed and mourned for justice, one of his uncles claimed that he was an avid worker of PML- N since 1982 and had been actively investing money in elections as well. However, what was heartrending to observe was the fact that not even a single representative of the government – federal or provincial – came to pay condolences to the bereaved family.

It is a brutal fact that the boy died because of the government’s negligence. The government invested a colossal Rs44.84 billion into the project. And after such massive investments what is the end result: death of innocents. I cannot fathom why the government is lending deaf ears to the entire incident. Death of one or death of a hundred, lives are important and cannot be played with Mr. Nawaz Sharif!

The government should take immediate action against the construction company i.e. Habib Constructions. We need to understand that everyday millions of people move under these hefty bridges and following this tragedy, their life is surely at high risk. The problem with the typical Pakistani mentality is that we do not take anything seriously until at least fifty or more people die from an accident. Now is the right time to protest. We shall be risking the lives of our children, siblings, parents, if we ignore this incident. Today one boy has lost his life, tomorrow it could be many more…

Magnanimous amounts of expenditure on such unproductive and lethal projects is extremely alarming. Rawalpindi is a city in desperate need of good government hospitals, better sewage system and most importantly government schools offering quality education at affordable rates. Instead of investing Rs44 billion in Metro, the local government could have urged the federal representatives to build at least four schools within the same amount of money. 42 roads in the city are in dilapidated condition, the suburbs are deprived of clean drinking water and more than 43 deaths have occurred due to dengue in the recent months. And yet our government remains fixated on building ‘metros’ and that too of such poor quality that it takes away the lives of people.

As a citizen of Rawalpindi I am grieved at the death of a fellow citizen of this city and country. What hurts me more is that our local MPAs and MNAs including Malik Iftikhar, Malik Abrar and the mighty Mohammad Hanif Abbasi remain ignorant towards our problems and refuse to accept responsibility. The blame game has already begun as PTI says they will lodge an FIR against Mohammad Hanif, but the actual problem is that we are always busy playing the blame game and never focus on the solutions. To reach a solution, one needs to correctly identify the problem as well.

Our problem is the filth surrounding our residences; our problem is water, and our problem is lack of affordable schools and good hospitals. Why are these representatives not highlighting such issues of the city? Why are they proudly spending money on such useless projects which are eating away the lives of our citizens? It is time for us to ponder over our priorities. A Metro Bus built with billions of rupees – yet no quality assurance or provision of basic facilities?

Societies advance only when their foundations are strong. In our case there is an absence of the building block. We focus on big things while ignoring the small yet pertinent ones. In order to strengthen the foundations of our country, to boost our economy and to change our status from beggars to lenders, we need to build institutions instead of Metros.