'Industries may face heavy penalties'

Several factories and industries are likely to face heavy penalties after the proposed 'Environment Protection Agency' (EPA) tribunal becomes operational.
EPA Director General Naznin Ansari, in an interview with Business Recorder here on Monday, said that the tribunal would be on the job soon. Several cases, she said, were lying at the EPA for tribunal's decision, which had to be functional by end-June 2006.
She said that to hasten the process, the EPA had forwarded another summary to the government on Monday. Naznin said the tribunal would take into consideration different aspects including imposition of fine, factory closure, etc. The EPA had sent notices to many factories but could not take action, as the same did not fall within its official jurisdiction.
She said that several complaints regarding liquid waste were being registered daily but the shortage of staff had hampered monitoring and action work. The government is well aware of staff shortage, she said, adding that the government had assured her that whenever ban on employment would be lifted the EPA would be provided the required number of people.
She said that EPA would launch a programme to make the people aware about environmental laws. The programme would educate them about materials which are hazardous to health. Sources in the EPA said that about 50 to 60 cases had been prepared against industries/factories and were ready for submission to the tribunal.
The factories/industries know it well that in the absence of the tribunal they would only be served notices and no action would be initiated against them, sources said. They said that removal of solid/liquid waste was not EPA's responsibility. If effluent is found outside a factory, the town municipal officers and concerned industrial area officers are responsible, they added.
Pakistan Tanners Association (SZ) Environment Society President Gulzar Feroz said the association would welcome formation of the tribunal. He said the government has taken many decisions but implementation was a big question. He expressed hope that the tribunal would work fairly and would resolve cases without delay.
He said the government had formed an 'environment council' to meet every six months but in the last two years not a single meeting had been held. He suggested that a tripartite meeting should be formed, comprising reps from city government, industries and EPA officials, to resolve the issues amicably.
The local governments are responsible to collect all toxic materials and dump at landfill sites, he said, and added that to-date not a single landfill site had been allocated by the local government. He suggested that the local government should provide waste bins to industries and direct them not to pass the effluent at open places.