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Only Experts Have the Authority
to Run the Country! |
In my opinion, our biggest problem in the development of the country
is the lack of land management. We need to determine where
agriculture is developing, where the steel industry is and where
other industries are.
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Lack of attention to the issue of land management is one of the most
important challenges in Iran’s development, and after years of
infrastructure activities, its environmental consequences have now plagued
the society. Lack of adherence to sustainable development strategies has
confronted the government with accumulated demands. What factors can be used
to look for the reasons for this situation? We had a meeting with Dr. Mehdi
Karbasian, one of the most experienced managers in the country’s management
system for four decades. The views of this distinguished manager contain
enlightening points that can be a beacon for new managers.
Given that water-intensive industries such as steel have been established in
places like Isfahan that are facing water shortages, what justification was
behind their establishment?
I do not have enough information about the water consumption of steels and I
have to check this. Of course, there are arguments that the amount of water
consumption in Mobarakeh Iron and Steel plants and other industries is high,
and this has led to the draw water off Zayandehrood. As far as I know, 90 to
92 percent of the country’s water is used for agriculture, and due to the
fact that the center and eastern parts of the country are desert and
semi-arid, the type of agriculture and products produced in these regions
should correspond with the climate and consumption.
The first point is that by investing in farmers, the government must once
and for all change the type of cultivation and crop in low-water areas or
the type of irrigation.
The second point that intensified after the revolution was the false slogan
of self-sufficiency in agricultural products, which is still chanted. Of
course, being able to produce our foodstuff needs domestically is in the
interest of the country in terms of national security and food strategy, but
what happened was that even in a city like Isfahan, they dug deep wells to
cultivate barren lands, and that’s why these days we are witnessing
landslides in provinces such as Isfahan and Yazd.
The third point is that for some reason we did not prevent the violations
that took place in the agricultural sector. For example, before the
revolution, rice cultivation was banned in Isfahan, and agricultural experts
identified those who cultivated rice in Isfahan and did not allow them to
harvest. As a result, after the revolution, such promotional activities were
stopped and the violators could cultivate any product they wanted. To
prevent this, the farmers must first be enlightened and then the violators
must be dealt with if there is a violation.
The fourth point is that the post-revolutionary governments made violations.
In 2004, the Economic Council approved that the country’s steel capacity be
increased by four million tons. At the same meeting, it was suggested that
we establish this factory in Bandar Abbas, because it has easy access to
water and to the port for exports. At that meeting, (former president
Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad and his advisers made an unprofessional, unscientific
and irrational decision to build eight 800,000-ton factories instead of a
four-million-ton factory. This decision was made when China as the world’s
steel production axis approved that a plant with a capacity of less than
five million tons is not economically viable.
In my opinion, our biggest problem in the development of the country is the
lack of land management. We need to determine where agriculture is
developing, where the steel industry is and where other industries are. Of
course, something has been written, but it will not be implemented. Because
instead of being ruled rationally and expertly, the country is run by
politicians, and politics interferes in all matters and aspects of life,
including economic, social, cultural, etc., and this is a great scourge.
Consider the same issue of air pollution in Tehran. All officials from the
leadership down in live Tehran and are associated with air pollution. But
because the environment is not a priority, no one does anything. In post-Mao
China, 7-8 years ago, priority was given to industrial development, and the
environment had no place to the extent that when you went to Beijing you
could not breathe. But the incumbent president of China has given priority
to the environment and ordered the closure of all polluting industries
around Beijing, which is why Beijing is in good weather today. |
