EDITORIAL: SECTORS MUST DEVISE VIRUS RECOVERY PLANS
A little more than a year ago, the new coronavirus pandemic –code-named Covid-19 – hit the world with unparalleled vengeance in recent times. Efforts to stem the tragic tide of the viral pandemic at first seemed to be working. But, on second thoughts: that was not the reality on the ground.
Despite the various ways and means directed at surmounting the pandemic – including lockdowns/isolations, vaccinations and other ‘remedies/solutions’ – Covid-19 continued to ravage many world countries. For example, coronavirus cases had reached 111,679,013 worldwide by 08:12GMT on February 21, 2021 – with 2,473,003 deaths. This is to say nothing of the havoc which the pandemic has been wreaking upon national economies in particular, and the global economy at large.
The Economy is one area where Tanzania has not been spared by the global malady – hitting especially such economic sectors as Tourism and Aviation which heavily rely for growth and prosperity on free/unrestricted travel by people in our passenger-and-tourist source markets. It may not, therefore, have come as a surprise that players in the national Aviation industry solicited from the government an aviation-specific rescue package intended to lift Aviation out of the economic bog it is floundering in – including tax relief and subsidies...
Fair enough – under normal circumstances, we say. But, these are far from being ‘normal circumstances.’ So, we unreservedly agree with the government’s Chief Spokesman, Dr Hassan Abbasi, who categorically stated that there would be no special relief packages for Tanzanian Aviation or any other sector.
The Covid-19 pandemic did not spare the government, nor its socioeconomic sectors, Dr Abbasi rightly insisted – hinting that sectoral and other leaders must devise ways to swim out of the quagmire – or sink! As we noted in these pages on Saturday: some private sector operators are already working on recovery plans from the Covid-19 disaster, and the public sector – including Aviation – should do likewise.
HONOUR CRIME VICTIMS’ DAY
Today, February 22, is a Day for Victims of Crime, generally observed in the European Union (EU) to remember people who have suffered at the hands of criminals.
Millions of people – including children and adults; women and men, poor and wealthy, residents and visitors alike – fall victim to criminal activities across the world every year.
The crimes include – but are by no means limited to – terrorism, human trafficking, abuse, domestic violence, hate crime, robbery and a bazillion others.
Some 75 million people across Europe continue to become victims of crime every year, suffering physical and/or mental trauma. As a consequence, victims of crime are more often than not in need of a lot of support and care, as well as protection and a safe environment.
It was to this end that the European Commission put “robust crime victims’ rights in place to ensure they get the necessary support and protection ... as well as ready access to compensation as appropriate.”
That’s a very good development as, more often than not, victims of crime have been a forgotten lot down History. This is especially the case in the ‘Third World’ where underdeveloped-cum-developing countries like Tanzania have difficulty making ends meet... Let alone devote precious time and other scarce resources to crime victims.
