Supreme Court has directed Ministry of Environment to take action against environmental polluters, but a pressure group within the industrial sector has been effective in blocking the actions over the last two years. This was stated by Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Alternate Energy, Government of Sindh, Mir Hussain Ali, at a conference on Quality Health Safety Environment, organised by Investment & Marketing Conferences, held recently at a local hotel here.
The conference was organised by I&M Conferences in the context of recent industrial disasters that have taken place in different parts of the world. These include the tragic Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, and the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected to cost British Petroleum $40 billion. The objective of the conference was to raise QHSE standards awareness in Pakistan. Mir Ali said that Ministry of Environment & Alternate Energy has established a S3 Project worth 13 billion to handle solid waste, sewerage, and industrial effluents. This project is funded by federal and provincial government and KPT. There is also a project of four combined effluents treatment plants at a cost of rupees eight billion, which is funded by government of Sindh, and scheduled to begin functioning this year, he added.
"Ministry of Environment is working to increase transparency in the environmental impact assessment reports. Sindh province has lot of potential in alternate energy sector, in particular wind energy, with a potential of generating 30,000 to 50,000 MW of energy. 35,000 acre of land has been given to AEDB for further sub leasing, and 15 to 16 wind energy investors will soon begin energy production", he added.
Earlier speakers at the conference underlined the need to implement QHSE policies and procedures in the public and private sector. They stressed that to prevent disasters, and to protect employees and citizens, corporations in Pakistan need to discuss and establish strong QHSE programmes.
Chairman National Bank of Pakistan, Syed Ali Raza said that the world of tomorrow will be different from the world of today, because there has been a shift in economic power from Europe, America and Japan to the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China. Pakistan is a part of this important region and has the natural and human resources to benefit from this change. He stressed that being a part of BRIC, Pakistan needs to begin by changing things at home including in the area of QHSE. Exports will expand as a result of quality. Environmental standards will also give greater access to export markets. Raza also said that there should be effort to create a collaborative platform that includes different sectors of the economy to achieve high QHSE standards. He asked Professor Hassan, President and CEO of I&M to create this platform. Even financial institutions should be a part of this structure and demonstrate environmental awareness. For example, in some western countries banks are not permitted to lend to environmental polluters. Environmental education in Pakistan should be established across the country. Greater investment should be made in education, which has received less than 1.5 percent of GDP over the last 60 years, he maintained.
President Petroleum Marketing, Byco Petroleum, Kalim Siddiqui discussed the case of the Greek registered oil tanker which ran aground at Keamari in July 2003. He also discussed ARPEL Guideline on "Occupational Health and Safety Proactive Indicators" which was developed to provide the oil and gas industry with guidance in the use of proactive indicators to promote work environment that anticipates and responds to occupational hazards and prevents incidents. He noted that benefits are reduced injuries and losses, improved worker health and welfare, improved productivity, improved overall business operating systems, improved overall business image, protected company profits.
Haroon Qassim, Chairman of PPMA informed the participants about the important role and objectives of PMMA, a critical organisation for the economic development of Pakistan. He regretted that citizens' right to health is not a part of Pakistan's constitution. His thoughtful speech on the topic of 'Citizens' Health and National Economic Development', referred to the scholarship of Barro, Mushkin, Hamoudi and Sachs, and generated discussion throughout the conference proceedings.
Naveed Khawaja, Chief Operating Officer EBM Ltd in his speech highlighted the importance of environmental education for citizens. He lamented the deterioration of the environment in Pakistan and importance of organised activism to combat further damage and loss to the environment. He discussed CSR and QHSE programmes of English Biscuit Manufacturers Ltd.
A large number of participants included senior government officials, corporate executives, QHSE specialists, environmental activists, academia, media attended the event. They appreciated the initiative of 'Investment & Marketing' to organise the conference. Academics and scientists from PCSIR, SZABIST, Suparco, University of Karachi thanked Professor Hassan for providing a unique opportunity for interaction, co-operation and further collaboration.-PR
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