With reference to Ms. Arifa Naseem’s letter titled, “Road construction in June”, which appeared on June 11, I admire her sentiments and feelings of sympathy for the laborers engaged in construction and repair of roads in the scorching heat of June. I would, however, like to inform her that the people belonging to the working class especially the laborers are not as fragile as she perhaps thinks. The weather conditions do not affect a person’s functions and duties. As a retired army officer I remember how we worked in scorching heat, freezing cold, severe wind and hail storms and even during snow storms while serving in hilly areas. We never felt miserable because all of this became a part of our lives. Same is the case with the labour class. The lesson is: life must go on, whatever the conditions around may be.
As for her concern about wastage and misuse of funds left over from the previous year’s budget, by spending it in the month of June, I may say that graft, bribery and corruption are the most despicable features of our government’s functions dependent on golden opportunities. We must, however, admire CM Shahbaz Sharif for spending the money in question on development projects visible to people and not the invisible types.
RAFI NASIM,
Lahore, June 11.