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Focus on Environment 2008: Tussle between EPA officials mars efficiency
* Post of EPA DG remains bone of contention
* 15 cases are pending in SC, 54 in LHC, 26 in sessions and civil courts, 15 in POC and 315 in ET
* EPA issues 460 Environment Protection Orders to polluters
By Abdul Manan
LAHORE: Tussle between the Environment Protection Agency officials effected its working and they showed apathy towards solving environmental issues in the Punjab in 2008.
The agency was formed under Section VIII of Pakistan Environment Protection Act (PEPA) 1997 to prevent and control pollution, was unable to deal with the various forms of pollution.
The EPA director general (DG) and Environmental Tribunal (ET) chairman are the most significant officials across the province to curb the environmental pollution. The provincial secretary is an administrative post of the Environment Protection Department (EPD).
In public administration, the head of any attached department should be appointed or hired on permanent basis or contractual basis and should also be offered job security.
Bone of contention: The post of EPA DG in Punjab remained the bone of contention for the last two years. Former EPA DG Kamran Khan was posted on June 2006, but was retired in June 2007. The Punjab government has allowed him to continue for one year on contract basis. The contract ended on June 2008. EPA Director (South) Dr Shagufta Shah Jahan moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) against Kamran. On February 28, the caretaker government sacked Kamran.
On May 20, the Punjab government gave additional charge of the DG to Dr Shagufta.
Environment Impact Assessment Director Khalid Mehmood complained to the chief secretary that he was most suitable to hold the additional charge of DG.
Presently, the rift between Dr Shagufta and Khalid has widened. The department also faced problems, as it has no permanent secretary. In January 1, 2007, former EPD secretary Major (r) Shahnawaz Badr was posted. On May 21, Sheikh Zafar Iqbal was made the EPD secretary, but he took premature retirement on October 22.
On November 11, the government gave the additional charge of EPD secretary to Dr Zafar Nasrullah Khan. Khan was already working in the department as an additional secretary. Sources in the EPD said Dr Zafar had been transferred to Balochistan, but was working hard to avert the notification.
The EPA is a feeding agency for the ET, a special court established under Section 20 of PEPA. It consists of a chairman, a district and sessions judge and a former EPA director as member legal and technical respectively. The ET chairwoman was the only female judge in the tribunal. She was appointed by the Federal Law Ministry and was given a status of a high court judge. However, she is being paid Rs 32,000 a month and the ET registrar is getting Rs 80,000 a month.
EPA’s Legal And Enforcement Wing is responsible for assisting secretary and DG, preparing complaints for ET, defending EPA before the ET, the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court. It also imparts legal training to officers.
The wing has achieved the following targets so far: Promulgation of Polythene Bags Ordinance And Rules, prepared operating manuals and also empowered the EPA officers, imparted trainings to district officers, designed and notified EPA’s policy about base transmission stations and formulated a system for collection and recycling of polythene bags.
Cases: Presently, 15 cases are in the SC, 54 in the LHC, 26 in the session and civil courts, 15 in the Provincial Ombudsman Court (POC) and 315 in the ET. The tribunal has received 105 complaints against the EPA.
Polluters: In 2008, the EPA issued 460 Environment Protection Orders (EPOs) to polluters. The ET has upheld 175 cases, eight cases remanded for technical makeup, 65 polluters were fined, 62 projects closed after conviction.
The EPA issued 56 Environmental Impact Assessment and 53 Initial Environmental Examination and 700 others were given environmental approval in 2008. The LHC has empowered all senior civil judges/judicial magistrates working in 35 districts of the Punjab to work as environmental magistrates.
The data revealed that the provincial district officers had not filed a case against the polluters so far. The official figure states that the EPA has not urged people or a government agency to plant trees in the province.
Divisional Forest Officer (Publicity) Syed Muhammad Abdul Basit said his department had planted 35 million trees across the province in 2008. Source Daily Times