KARACHI, Dec 13: Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Environment and Alternate Energy, Noman Saigol, has ordered probe into the recent issuance of an NOC to a firm for construction and operation of a cement plant on Super Highway.
Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Mr Saigol said that he had an emergent meeting with the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) staff on the issuance of approval letter to a Karachi based firm and to maintain transparency in the case he had also asked the secretary of the Sindh Environment and Alternative Energy Department to investigate that the NOC was issued as per the laws or otherwise.
He said that it was amazing that the SEPA director-general and director gave different statements about the issuance of the NOC for the project in question.
However, I am of the opinion that the relevant records and proceedings be checked and if at any stage it is found that the authority letter in regard to the establishment of the cement plant and its future operation was issued against the law it would be cancelled immediately, while action would be taken against the officer or officers responsible for the act.
The cement plant, which is likely to go operational with a capacity of 8,400 tonnes per day within a couple of months, was recently accorded an approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment it submitted to the SEPA by a director of the protection agency.
The director-general, who is considered as the relevant and competent authority to issue the NOC, says that he was bypassed and never taken into confidence on the issue.
Mr Saigol said that the inquiry officer would now ascertain whether all the formalities were met in the case of the cement factory or not and had the proponent become illegible for accordance of any approval.
“We have also to look whether the conditions set in the SEPA’s approval letter delivered to the cement plant management did commensurate with the relevant laws and fulfilled the demands of the national environment quality standards or not”, he mentioned further.
To a question, he said that he had not ordered for the suspension of any official for the time being but would go for severe actions against defaulters in the light of the inquiry report. I will not allow anybody to compromise on the reputation and credibility of the SEPA at any cost, he said.
