The industries must come forward and implement the environmental laws in their factories before the industrial waste pollutes the environment beyond repair. This warning bell was rung by Khalid Feroze, President of Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) while presiding over a seminar on 'Environment Management System', held at a local hotel on Saturday.
The seminar was organised by Moody International, a UK based certification body, to create environmental awareness and concern among industrialists and the general public.
Khalid described the ISO 14001--which concerns with environmental management--as indispensable for the awareness and implementation. "The government has enacted laws and is trying to educate people to comply with these laws but it will not be successful unless the private sector takes initiative to make the environment safe to us and our coming generations," he said.
He said he was happy to note that many industries had already started a programme to keep their industrial waste below the minimum pollution level and that they are also installing waste treatment plants to make the wastes safe to the environment.
Khalid said that many industries were still putting their waste directly into the sewerage lines. These effluents were very dangerous and could cause havoc to the environment, he added.
He said that although Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) exist in the country but disregard of laws by offenders has made these ineffective.
A leading environmentalist from Indonesia, Poppy Noor, was invited to enlighten the participants about the environmental hazards and their prevention. She gave a detailed presentation about the high standards involved for receiving ISO 14001 certification and compared the standardisation of Pakistan's companies with their foreign counterparts.
The Country Manager of Moody International, Atif Hameed, conducted the programme and urged the companies to contribute in making Pakistan an environment-friendly country. "It will keep us in good health and improve our image in the international community as well", he asserted.
The question-answer session was very productive as the participants showed their knowledge and preference to environmental issues.
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