Well as many of you would know that PTA’s Device Identification Registration Blocking System(DIRBS) is already underway and the system ensures that only verified phone will be operational in Pakistan. Moreover, the DIRBS allows the governing authority to block used and smuggled phones in Pakistan, which will, in turn, cause a loss of millions to the national exchequer every year but here is a big surprise, according to a Customs report about 59% of the phones in Pakistan are smuggled.
So how are these phones to be managed? Well as per the FBR they are simply useless and FBEhas instructed Customs to destroy these phones. Moreover a few days back, the FBR had asked the Customs authority to gather a list of all of the un-verified phones that have been confiscated and send them to the PTA, who will then evaluate them and hence decide whether these phones are to be whitelisted. We think that destroying those phones would not be the suitable outcome, and here is what an alternative approach would look like.
Must Read: PTA to Block Illegal, Smuggled and Stolen Phones by introducing its new plan.
For one thing, the confiscated phones could simply be exported to other countries, while these phones may not have any use for the people of Pakistan, given the ongoing circumstances, they can simply be used by people of other countries, in turn Pakistan can actually earn some money by doing so and lets be honest, right now anything is better than destroying the phones.
Furthermore if they do go on with their plan of action and destroy the phones well it will only make Pakistan’s waste problem worse as about 1.5 billion Smartphones sold each year and the ones that are thrown away are shipped to developing countries to be resold or dumped in the landfills, in turn, the waste generated by this action which is called electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste problems in the world. Electronics have substances in them which can carry a threat in the environment, in this case, the environment of Pakistan. So dumping and wasting will not be the most suitable outcome for as the electronic waste contains harmful chemicals which can easily make their way into the soil and the water supplies and in turn, can create
A Decision to Destroy Smuggled Phones should be Reconsidered by FBR
Finally Toxic waste is a lucrative problem, what we mean by this is that since the electronic waste problem is getting worse every year, awareness amongst the masses should be created within Pakistan and hence maybe the best course of action is to deploy awareness campaigns in accordance to this problem and well that can only be made possible if the government wishes to do so. Another solution to this problem would be to seek help from companies and businessmen to invest in the proper recycling facilities for electronic waste in Pakistan. Electronic waste can bear fruit if taken advantage of effectively, this waste contains valuable elements such as copper, iron, silicon, nickel and in some cases even gold.
So making policies in regard to the matter at hand, and creating regulations and inviting investment in to the waste management of sector can in turn play a vital role in the growth of Pakistan as a economically developing country such as Pakistan
