KARACHI, July 5: Pakistan, which has chalked out an elaborate national environment plan, is expecting a 42-million-dollar UNDP assistance for its relevant projects, federal minister for environment Barrister Shahida Jamil said here on Friday.

Talking to newsmen after the conclusion of a five-day Young Leaders’ Conference, she said the support would be extended by the UN Development Programme on the basis of feasibility of each of the proposed schemes.

Mentioning that President Pervez Musharraf was keen to ensure implementation of an adequate environmental standard in the country through sustainable development, the minister said all-out efforts were underway in that regard.

She referred to the national action plans aimed to combat desertification, protect water sheds and formulate an strategy to contain oil spill for preventing marine pollution.

Elaborating the country’s anti-desertification plan, Shahida Jamil said Pakistan having arid and semi-arid zones is a drought- prone country and the situation becomes all the more grim due to the constant change in the climatic conditions.

Under the given situation, a programme to protect water shed has been introduced in the northern parts of the country. The scheme was stated to also cater to the issue of constant deforestation in accordance with the changing pattern of water conservation projects, she added.

She said environment as an issue had been placed very low in the national priorities in the past and it is evident from the fact that a mere amount of Rs50,000 was allocated to create public awareness about the subject.

The minister said it was only under the current year budget that the allocation had been raised to Rs10 million.

“The idea is to sensitise the masses at all levels through both print and electronic media,” she said, mentioning that people in general have not yet been able to connect between what they do and what is its impact.

With a view to inculcate the significance of the subject among the children, she said a course module on environment had been developed through the support of the education ministry.

This module, she said, is being incorporated into the curriculum of primary classes (from class 1 to 5) from the current academic session.

The minister also referred to efforts being made to help local industrial units manufacturing exportable items acquire ISO-14000 status by the year 2005.

“The government is adopting a carrot and stick policy in this regard as not only all sorts of support is being extended but a strict vigil through regular inspections is also ensured to see that the units acquire and maintain internationally-required standards,” she added.

According to her voluntary benchmarks have been set through approval of owners and managers of all concerned industrial units whose performance is assessed by a team, comprising government as well as independent inspectors, on the end of each year.

Those found violating the set rules would be liable to penalty and pollution charges would be slapped, she said.

The minister also referred to the issue of “waste management”, maintaining that waste under current era of high- tech has emerged as a commodity and has to be handled in a far more professional manner.

Shahida Jamil claimed that a massive investment is coming into the country which is also hi-tech in nature and hence the government has decided to initiate joint ventures encouraging local private sector to enter into a partnership with foreign investors.

She referred to the measures adopted to encourage communities to tackle the issue of safe disposal of waste generated by them.

“The government is facilitating the process and from the near future we expect the provincial and city governments to provide and hold ownership of land-spill, where communities may dispose of the waste through their collective efforts.

Earlier, speaking at the Young Leaders’ Conference, she said the event was designed to expose the youths to a diverse national gathering where topics of national and international interests were analyzed, debated and constructive solutions presented.

“You all are the precursor of future changes and must devote attention solely to studies as it is the only option available to equip yourselves for the struggle in life that lies ahead of you,” she remarked.—APP/PPI