KARACHI, Aug 25: Speakers at a workshop on Saturday stressed the need for waging an awareness campaign to create an environmental conscious culture at all levels of society.
The workshop, organized by the FPCCI in collaboration with the Sindh Environment Protection Agency and the Sindh Police department, was attended by 200 delegates, including 100 police and law-enforcement officers, EPA, judicial, forest and wildlife officials, community leaders, representatives from 16 industrial sectors, environmental experts, trade and commerce leaders and union representatives, and many others involved with environment promotion and conservation.
The title of the workshop was “Connecting law and the environment: promoting compliance and enforcement.”
The workshop consisted of four presentations on: environmental scenario - issues and challenges; the environmental task of the police and law enforcing agencies; promoting environmental compliance; and environmental enforcement - the role of citizens.
Sindh inspector general of police Syed Kamal Shah welcomed the initiative for the promotion of an environmental friendly culture among the police and the law enforcing agencies. He emphasized the need for tackling the environmental problems at all levels of society and assured the audience of complete cooperation and support from the police department. He also highlighted efforts made by the Sindh police in controlling noise and air pollution in the city.
Dr M.A. Wajid, convener of the workshop, said that environment affected all of us and it was equally the “duty and responsibility of one and all to make environment not only safe for ourselves, but also for our future generations”.
Dr Wajid pointed out that today many countries were taking action to protect health from environmental pollution and to restore and protect the quality of their natural environment.
Shamsul Haq Memon, secretary for environment, forest and wildlife, said that of the many challenges that the country would have to face in this millennium, the issue of environment definitely ranked high. “This is one issue which we cannot afford to ignore any longer. Environment is an issue which is intermingled with all other aspects of life like health, education, development, etc.”
He said: “The industrial sector is growing day by day and with the passage of time it would grow further. This state of affairs will aggravate the existing lowest ebb of industrial pollution. Therefore, the health effects are likely to worsen. Some of the waste materials are cancer-causing called carcinogens, and some may produce birth defects called teratogens.”
He added that some of the contributions to health problems were water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, marine pollution, etc. “These are all contributing to health impairment due to a wide variety of diseases. The government has not been insensitive to environmental concerns. It has responded to the concerns about environment by framing laws and regulations. The passing of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997, formulation of the National Environmental Quality Standards, guidelines for self-monitoring and reporting by the industry, formula for pollution charge and development of supportive guidelines and procedures for the implementation of the act speak of the government’s resolve to deal with the problem of environmental pollution.”
Rear Admiral Gulzaman Malik, director general of the Maritime Security Agency, said that pollutants entered the oceans from various sources creating a major threat to valuable resources. “Sewerage and industrial effluent, shipping operations and accidents, natural seepage, exploration activates and many other sources all contribute towards pollution of the sea. The damage occurred by spillage of oil and other harmful substances may bring unexpected fish death, tainting of marine life, destroying the natural ecosystem and coastal areas.
“Pakistan has a vast coastline stretched over 990kms, which is rich in natural environment. The living resources also include the fifth largest mangroves forest of the world situated in the Indus delta. The sea by virtue of its vastness is considered as an indefinite dumping ground. Accidents at sea and other factors are polluting the water touching our shores,” he added.
Shafique Ahmed Khoso, director general of the Sindh EPA, said environment and development had a very strong correlation. “As development proceeds, environment degrades and resources contaminate. The wise step is to have development with minimum impact or damage to the environment, that is sustainable development.”
He said: “The World Trade Organization is already working towards trade policies which are feared to become trade barriers for us if we do not work now for improvement and control of our environment.”
Saud Ahmed, DIG traffic, said police in the province was already involved in promoting and encouraging environmental awareness by collaborating with government agencies, NGOs, industries, oil companies, and other stakeholders for achieving maximum effects. “The traffic police has also started a project to combat noise and air pollution and the introduction of environmental friendly silencers are a step in this direction.”
Haroon Rashid, vice-president of the FPCCI, said that keeping in view that Pakistan was a signatory to the WTO, as far back in 1995, it was high time that we devoted attention to this important international obligation. “Failure and noncompliance will have adverse effects on Pakistan’s trade and business. This can lead to disastrous effects crippling the economy of the country. The concerned government departments should immediately wake up to the seriousness of the situation.”
The conservator of wildlife, Munir A. Awan, said that it was essential that events like this workshop should be held regularly, so as to bring together different stakeholders and give them an open field to express their viewpoints on issues concerning them, both individually and collectively.