PAKISTAN SETS UP ENVIRONMENTAL TRIBUNALS TO EXAMINE MAJOR OFFENSES SUCH AS INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION
Press Release
AFG/94
PI/1143
PAKISTAN SETS UP ENVIRONMENTAL TRIBUNALS TO EXAMINE MAJOR OFFENSES SUCH AS INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION
19990604 UN Calls for Boycott of Afghan TimberISLAMABAD, 4 June (United Nations Information Centre) -- "I am glad to announce that two environmental tribunals have been established by the Government in Karachi and Lahore. They are now operational", Asif Shuja Khan, Director-General of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, said today. He was speaking at the weekly United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) briefing on the occasion of World Environment Day 1999.
The two tribunals will examine major offenses such as industrial pollution, and will rely on the public to establish their cases. They are headed by specialized environmental magistrates, appointed this week by the Government. "The first case to be heard will probably relate to the area located in the I-9 and I-10 part of Islamabad, where steel industries are generating major emissions. On the basis of a complaint by a citizen, the Supreme Court has ordered that the matter be referred to the Environmental Tribunal", said Mr. Khan.
The United Nations is also actively involved in supporting the Government's effort to protect the environment. Razina Bilgrami, Programme Manager of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) programme in Pakistan, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project, underlined the substantive measures taken to protect the country's wide range of natural resource capital. "Even though root causes of environmental problems vary considerably from one developing country to the other, they are generally of two kinds: those arising primarily from a combination of poverty and population growth, leading to over-exploitation of resources; and the second, emanating from the increased industrialization and urbanization, leading to the pollution of water, air and land", Ms. Bilgrami said. Among the schemes supported by the UNDP is the Kasur Tanneries Pollution Control Project, worth $10.41 million, which aims at reducing and hopefully arresting toxic elements from the end-of-the pipe effluent by introducing cleaner processes and technologies in the production cycle.
Together with the Ministry of Environment, the United Nations System in Pakistan is engaged in a major effort to raise public awareness for World Environment Day 1999. One of the main activities will entail a nation-wide campaign to ensure better fuel efficiency of vehicles. Free tune-ups of petrol
- 2 - Press Release AFG/94 PI/1143 4 June 1999
and diesel cars will be provided all day on 5 June in thirteen cities throughout Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Pewshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Motorists will have access to this service in a total of 30 locations, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the National Energy Conservation Centre (a UNDP- funded project), and a number of private partners (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc.)
Jointly with the Ministry of Environment, the United Nations System in Pakistan has organized a number of other events: a poster competition for children ages 5 to 18; the publication of special supplements in three newspapers; and an Environment Fair.
Also announced at today's briefing, the United Nations Office of the Coordinator called upon the foreign timber industry to boycott any lumber originating from Afghanistan's shrinking old growth forests, in order to reduce the increasing deforestation in Afghanistan. "These forests constitute an invaluable natural resource for the people of Afghanistan, and they are in danger of complete disappearance", said United Nations Spokesperson Stephanie Bunker.
The environmental degradation facing Afghanistan is among the most severe in the world. While it predates twenty years of turmoil, it is a result of poverty, underdevelopment and neglect. Like many other developing countries, Afghanistan's environment is affected by desertification and erosion as well as land and water pollution. However, in the last two decades, environmental conditions have worsened mainly because of war-related human activity -- including landmines and bombing.
One of the single most important factors affecting the environment remains deforestation, said Ms. Bunker. In the 1980s alone, forest and woodland cover shrank from an already low 3.4 per cent of the total area to an appalling 2.6 per cent. Some 85 per cent of the rural population of the country depend primarily on wood as a fuel for heating and cooking due to the non-availability of other fuels. In addition, the shrinking forest resources are being targeted by the timber trade. Even trees such as oak are being cut for fuel, while old growth forests in Nooristan and Kunar (Eastern Afghanistan) are being decimated for timber to export. In the north and west of Afghanistan, natural pistachio and juniper forests are also being cut for both fuelwood and timber.
A wide variety of United Nations projects inside Afghanistan address environmental concerns. The Mine Action Programme incorporates environmental concerns in its demining efforts. In the absence of a recognized central Government, United Nations Agencies such as the UNDP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Office of Project Services (OPS) support numerous projects in: irrigation; flood control; disaster response and prevention; agricultural programmes in both crops and livestock; urban reclamation, and water and sanitation.
* *** *