National Workshop on Inventory of Initial and New Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) organised by Ministry of Climate Change with the collaboration of United Nations Environment Program in Karachi at a local hotel. Objective of this workshop was to review the National Implementation Plan (NIP) to make Pakistan POPs free.
On this occasion, Muhammad Mureed Rahimoon, Deputy Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Climate Change stressed the linkages between universities, academia and government institutions for elimination of POPs. He said, "We have to make strong linkages between academia, industry and government institutions, as it takes a pro-active stance in putting knowledge to use and in creating new knowledge for removal of POPs."
Dr Zaigham Abbas, Deputy Director (Chemical)/Incharge-National Co-ordination Unit, Ministry of Climate Change, Dr Mahmood A Khwaja, Senior Adviser SDPI, Syed Muhammad Yahya, Additional Director General, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Khaula Shirin, Director General PCSIR Labs Karachi, Dr Nuzhat Khan, Principal Scientific Officer, National Institute of Oceanography, Karachi, Dr Imran Hussain, Consultant for PCBs, Usman Manzoor, Programme Officer UNDP, Mehreen Iqbal, Consultant for UPOPs and Dr Jabir H Syed, Consultant for PFOS, HBCD and PBDEs, and Engineer Muhammad Khan, Regional Director Balochistan EPA presented their experiences for elimination of POPs from the country.
Dr Zaigham Abbas while describing the objectives of the workshop said that till September 2018, Pakistan has to meet its targets to update National Implementation Plan and inventory of new POPS. For that purpose Ministry of Climate Change is working day and night for updating inventory of old POPs and making inventory of New POPs, he added.
He also highlighted the importance of health and safety standards for POPs, and urged stakeholders to make and follow international standards accordingly. Syed Muhammad Yahya, Additional Director General Sindh EPA appreciated the role of Ministry of Climate Change and UNDP to establish disposal facility at Bestway Cement near Kallar Kahar, District Chakwal.-PR