Vanishing Fixtures, Silent Systems

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow Digital Creator

It is a peculiar mystery at the Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium, one of the most prominent stadiums in Peshawar. Nine bathrooms on the stadium's rooftop have been cleared out. The taps, showers, and other expensive fixtures, paid for using public money and vital for the facility's sportsmen, have disappeared into thin air. The most surprising thing is how silently it happened. There has been no official investigation, and no First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged, and no person has been brought to book. The robbery, it seems, took place under an institutional silence.

A former sports officer is said by sources to have directed a daily-wage staff and a permanent government servant by word to take away the fixtures. The reason, they were informed, was to let a contractor put new ones in place. This directive was not accompanied by any written sanction or authorized plan. When the old fittings were pulled out, the contractor protested, saying that the project document (PC-I) didn't specify new taps or showers for those bathrooms in the first place. The original, functioning equipment was lost by then—never to be found again.

Even though the stadium has security cameras installed to keep an eye on valuable property, those tapes at that time have never been watched, or leastwise, nothing has been revealed to the public. No one knows how and who took away the fixtures. This is quite different from a recent case in which a citizen had his phone and money stolen. In that instance, the cameras were immediately utilized to catch the thief in a matter of hours. It instills a disturbing question: are the cameras simply there to observe the public, and do they "malfunction" at convenient times when public property goes missing?

A few administrators and personnel have cycled through since the theft, yet nothing has been done about the problem. The bathrooms continue to be off-limits, a perpetual reminder of neglect. This incident has not only tarnished the institution's image but also deprived athletes and visitors of a simple amenity. The lost fixtures are more than a small cost overrun; they are an emblem of a larger failure of administration, supervision, and accountability. It is a flagrant misuse of public money and a violation of public trust.

Will anyone ever be held accountable? Unfortunately, in such cases, this is not likely to happen. The "dust of time" tends to settle, and apathy takes over. In cases involving public properties, nobody seems interested in taking responsibility.

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