Dr Attaur Rahman, minister incharge of Science and Technology, has deplored the delay in the announcement of the bio-safety guidelines by the environment ministry.
These guidelines were formulated two years back and were meant to govern the operation of industries in the country. For this reason the industries were not following such guidelines.
The minister was addressing a sizeable gathering at a hotel here on Tuesday where Unilever Pakistan presented its Environmental Performance Report for 2003.
Commending the efforts of Unilever Pakistan for trying to make the world a better place to live, the Minister spoke of unlimited opportunities awaiting the country in biotechnology.
He said that environment degradation has caused many health and safety hazards because of pollution of water and air by industries.
Better awareness of these hazards among the public is very critical. He suggested that environmental issues should form part of the school textbooks, so that its awareness starts from an early age. In the west the environmental problems are take very seriously.
He said that Karachi has one environmental science centre but such institutions should be set up in other cities to analyse the pollutants and monitor their extent in no time.
He warned that the indiscriminate use of pesticides is a serious problem because its residue proves a great source of health hazard when it enters the bio-cycle and also in the feeds of livestock.
He added that HEJ Institute of Chemistry, Karachi, headed by him, is also the WHO's regional centre for testing samples. According to him, results of various samples tested at the Institute showed an alarming extent of the pollutants seen in different foods,
He shocked the audience when he pointed out that some companies were pouring water from tap and marketing it under a brand name. This was because the companies greased the palm of the inspector. Moreover the judicial system was deficient and the culprit went scot-free. He said that similar has been the case of some ghee factories. But now the bottled water companies are sending their samples every two months for test.
Appreciating the efforts of Unilever for research and contribution to social welfare in education, health and environment protection, Dr Rahman suggested that the multinational should participate in production of energy from wind or solid waste.
He said that the meteorological department has, under a three-year project, collected relevant data about wind in the country. As a result some pockets of high wind have been identified along coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan for generation of wind energy which costs half of the thermal generation. He suggested that Unilever could select one such project.
This prompted Dr Attaur Rahman to focus on the marvellous things happening in the field of bio informatics and structure of DNA in plants and animals and new exciting opportunities.
One new window of opportunity can be to extract genes of the plants in the saline areas along the mangroves and promote agriculture production.
He referred to the immense possibilities in exploiting the wealth of medicinal plants in the country, recycling of water from sewer and other innovations.
Concluding he pointed out that the bio safety guidelines were formulated by the experts some two years back. These were finalised, but the ministry of environment has not announced these so far.
The Unilever's environmental performance report presents the multinational company's environmental friendly policies at its various units, targets and long term objectives and lists various efforts of the company to preserve and safeguard the environment.
Perwaiz Hasan Khan, supply chain director of Unilever reiterated his company's pledge of making environment secure and protected for future generations of Pakistan. He said the report highlights their efforts and encourages other companies to comply with rules and regulations specified by the government and environmental agencies.
Ali Tauqeer Shaikh, CEO of Lead said that protecting environment is absolutely critical for the benefit of the future generations. He stressed manufacturing units should ensure that its processes are safe and comply with the international standards. He praised Unilever's efforts in this direction.
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