Lights out

The government may be under severe financial pressure but you would never think of it if you visited the ministry of information and broadcasting. The ministry has been the beneficiary of a makeover of sorts with all the lights and shades having been changed everywhere — in the bureaucrats’ rooms, the corridors, even the toilets. This is worthy of comment only because the lamps and shades that were jettisoned were all in functional order and hardly old enough to warrant replacement. Clearly, the government has misplaced its priorities, one bureaucrat commented wryly, because it chose to spend on fixtures that did not need replacing instead of spending money where it is really needed.