05 December 2004	Sunday	22 Shawwal 1425

KARACHI, Dec 4: Eight children of a coastal village Siddique Goth, Bin Qasim Town, received burn injuries as certain chemical factories located at the Export Processing Zone , Landhi-Korangi are throwing chemical wastes near the locality.

Three children, seriously burnt, have been admitted in Aga Khan Health Centre in Rehri Goth. Five others received minor injuries, villagers told PPI on Saturday. Those admitted in the health centre include Kamal, 8, son of Mohammed Hashim; Zahid, 7, son of Anwer Tebar; and Mohsin son of Ibrahim.

Area people complained that the chemical dumping site was close to pipelines which supplied water to nearby villages and it could play havoc with the coastal population. They said that containers carrying chemical waste came frequently at night and dump it at different places around these localities.

The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum had already announced to organize rally against the dumping of chemical wastes around the coastal localities. According to the PFF, the chemicals were not only causing marine pollution but also affecting the fisher families.

PFF Chairman Mohammed Ali Shah said: "We have already informed the authorities concerned that the sea is our bowl of livelihood which has been turned poisonous through dumping of chemicals and streaming entire industrial waste into the sea."

However, he said, it seemed that the authorities had failed to pay heed to these complaints. "This approach in future may threat life of many children who play outside their localities, near dumping sites," he added.

The city government and its 18 town administrations have already chosen the Rehri Goth and its surrounding localities for dumping the garbage and reportedly at least 100 trucks of garbage are dumped at seashore in the vicinity, endangering the human life, their livelihood and the marine life.

After recieving a number of complaints, the area councillors of Rehri Goth had sent applications to the Export Processing Zone authorities to look into the matter but all in vain. -PPI