KARACHI, Aug 12: The newly posted director-general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, Mohammad Ali Shaikh, says it is an international trend that environmental bodies are headed by individuals holding degrees in social sciences.

Commenting on a Dawn report titled ‘Sepa fails to find an eligible DG’ that appeared in Tuesday’s edition of the newspaper, he has cited an example of Colombo-based South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme that had called applications for the post of its DG from people possessing an advanced university (PhD or postgraduate) degree in a relevant discipline (social sciences, natural sciences, planning, engineering, law, business management).

He has admitted that he has a degree in engineering and has done PhD in social science. Giving details of his experience, he said that he had worked in the Pakistan Steel, where he suggested ways and means to reduce industrial emissions. Then he taught various environment-related subjects at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology. Then he joined a private university, where he led many environment-related studies.

However, the Dawn report was based on the Sindh government’s notified recruitment rules for the post of Sepa director-general. The rules clearly mention that the Sepa DG should have a “PhD or a postgraduate degree in environmental engineering” and Dr Shaikh does not have such a degree.

Meanwhile, responding to Dawn queries on the issue, Sindh Chief Secretary Fazal-ur-Rehman said: “Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh has been posted Sepa DG because a person with the prescribed qualification was not available. However, as soon as a person with the prescribed qualification is selected through the Sindh Public Service Commission, he/she will be posted as Sepa DG.”