Removing garbage from Karachi: 'Senate body must monitor FPCCI offer if accepted'

Give tax incentives in the budget and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) would do all that it can to remove stinking garbage source of pollution in the harbour area and the streets of Karachi.
Karachi's Senator Engr. Rukhsana Zuberi told Business Recorder shortly after attending the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production, held at the Parliament House and presided over by Senator Nisar Memon on Wednesday morning.
She also reported this matter in the Committee meeting suggesting that if offer was accepted the Committee must monitor whether the FPCCI had proved true to their words. The Senator said that unclean waste and putrid materials is left on the roads, ports, and fish harbour every day, and only 40 percent of the waste is cleaned.
The Committee meeting tried to wrap up the report on environmental pollution before it filed the report for acceptance in the House, since a major portion of the report was focused on the waste material in the port city.
The City of Karachi was the biggest mess as regards garbage and waste disposal and with 388 MGD of sewerage of which only 151 MGD is cleansed and the rest left uncared for the stench source of foul breath to residents, the Committee meeting observed.
The stench and putrid material attract vultures and birds flying very low posed danger to commercial airlines and aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy and planes of the Maritime Security Force. Flying Birds hit planes like bullets, and the marine life is dead because of sewerage, spill and water pollution, Nisar Memon remarked.
The meeting also noted that tanneries were another cause of water pollution in the city though of late the Tanneries Association had built multi-million water treatment plants. Funds became a bone of contention when a number of departments argued in the meeting about funds needed for cleaning up the city.
Senator Memon pointed out the overall budget allocation amounted to Rs 5.8 billion, which elicited a suggestion from Senator Mahtab Abbasi for every department to use its own budget allocation and become a role model in doing the job well. His remarks were directed at the Air Force and the Navy. He said these two departments must present a model in achieving environmental excellence, within their own areas of jurisdiction.
It also transpired in the meeting that the meeting of the environment committee had not been held for the last seven years at which some eyebrows were raised at the Environment Ministry who had been sleeping over the matter.
A suggestion was made that the ministry should be wound up, but colleagues of the other department backed up the Environment Ministry, saying it needs not be closed but it should do its job well.
On this point, Senator Dilawar Abbas was emphatic that the matter should be passed on to the Prime Minister who must preside over a quarterly environment meeting to keep tag on what was being achieved to save the Karachi harbour and areas around airport installations free of pollution.
Minister of State for Defence Ali Asjad Malhi observed there was no need to enact more laws as too many laws already existed on statute books regarding pollution on land and harbours, but called for implementing existing laws in letter and spirit to control the menace of the environmental degradation.
Nisar Memon underlined the need for chalking out a vibrant co-ordination mechanism to check the rising pollution in Karachi Harbour and areas around Pakistan Air Force bases in Karachi with a view to avoiding losses of both men and material while carrying out operational activities.
In this regard, Nisar Memon drew attention to Pakistan Environment Protection Act, 1997 as well as the National Environmental Quality Standards, 2002, saying he would wait for five more days for incorporating inputs from a number of stockholders, including the Environment Ministry, Pakistan Air Force, Navy, Maritime Security Force, Karachi Port Trust, Karachi Harbour, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Karachi Cantonment Board, Karachi Fisheries, Sindh Environment Department, and the 'Shehri' organisation in Karachi.