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| September 24, 2003 | Wednesday | Rajab 26, 1424 |
98pc industrial units causing pollution
MULTAN, Sept 23: Provincial Environment Minister Makhdoom Ishfaq Ahmad has said 98.5 per cent of the industrial units in the country are adding to the pollution for not having arrangements to treat affluent.
He said at a meeting of the executive committee of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday about 66,000 units were operating in the country. Of these, 65,000 were causing enormous environmental pollution.
He said the industrial sector would have to take measures to control environmental pollution to meet the criterion of the WTO regime to be implemented in Jan 2005. He warned that otherwise the country could not compete with other countries in the international markets.
He said the federal government would hand over three common treatment plants to the Punjab in the current fiscal year, of which one would be installed in Multan.
The Makhdoom said the government had succeeded in shifting tanneries in Kasur from the city. In the next phase, tanneries would be shifted in Multan and Sialkot. Cooperation of the district governments would be sought to shift tanneries and powerlooms out of the city limits.
District Nazim Riaz Qureshi said about 800 acres were lying unutilized in the Multan industrial estate, which could be used to shift tanneries and powerlooms.
MOVE REJECTED: The Municipal Employees Welfare Union has rejected a move of the city TMA to put sanitation under contract system.
A meeting of the union’s executive committee was held on Monday. The meeting discussed the situation emerged after the granting of sanitation contracts in the union councils eight, 15 and 16 to their respective Nazims.
Protesting against the move, the union meeting observed that this would not even jeopardize the sanitation of the areas but also encourage corruption in the process. It was said that nowhere in the province sanitation was handed over to the Nazims.
Mr Khakwani alleged that city Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar had been offering ‘political bribe’ to the UC Nazims and their deputies in the form of sanitation contracts. He feared that the Nazims would enlist their kith and kin as sanitary workers, either to oblige them or misappropriate salaries of the workers.
He warned of a protest drive if the TMA did not take back its ill-advised step. The meeting also expressed concern over the laying off of sanitary staff despite a stay order by the labour court against retrenchment. It was demanded that all the work charge employees of the municipality be regularized because the Punjab government had lifted ban on fresh recruitments.
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