LAHORE: The LCCI President Malik Tahir Javed has urged the Environment Department to launch awareness campaign amongst the stakeholders to control environmental pollution as closure of industries is not solution to this issue.
In a statement, the LCCI President said that only industries are not responsible for environmental pollution. Various other factors including rising number of vehicles, deforestation, digging of roads at vast scales etc are playing horrific role in this regard.
The LCCI President said that closure of industries would not be doing any service to control pollution. It would not only snatch employment of millions of people and government would also lose huge revenue.
He said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry is ready to hold seminars and workshop to create awareness amongst its members regarding environmental issues and latest technologies for water treatment etc. He said that Punjab government should support such initiatives in the larger interest of the economy.
Malik Tahir Javed said that the field staff of Punjab Environment Protection Department should be trained to give awareness to the business community regarding environmental issues and their soft solutions.
He said that industry cannot afford water treatment plants as they involve a very high cost therefore the government should come forward and put up water treatment plants in all the industrial areas.
The LCCI President said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry is taking all possible measures to educate its members about the environmental standards in vogue the world over.
He said that the cases should not be registered against the businessmen on environmental issues as the industrialists always try their level best to comply with all government rules and regulations.
Meanwhile, the Lahore chamber of Commerce & Industry and Lahore Waste Management Company have inked a Memorandum of Understanding to act joint in cleaning and greening the industrial zones and around Lahore.
The LCCI Vice President Zeshan Khalil and Farrukh Qayyum Butt from Lahore Waste Management Company inked MOU on behalf of their organizations. Mian Muhammad Nawaz, Tahmina Saeed Chaudhry, Mian Zahid Javed and Rizwan Akhter were also present on the occasion.
Through this accord, both organizations will initiate joint efforts to make the industrial parks and zones “Environmental Friendly” by greening the city and ensuring the cleanliness of the markets.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI Vice President Zeshan Khalil said that it was a good initiative taken by government to joint venture with foreign companies to bring paradigm shift in the overall approach of your workforce. He said that the contracts signed with Turkish firms in 2011 totally changed the outlook of LWMC.
He said that with the addition of state-of-the-art equipment, the efficiency of LWMC was drastically improved. The slogan – Clean Lahore – was uncompromisingly followed and the residents of Lahore witnessed unprecedented efficiency of LWMC.
The LCCI Vice President said that uniformed staff, appropriate change in duty schedules, extra shifts on occasions like Eid-ul-Adha, distribution of waste bags to inhabitants, efficient collection, transportation and disposal of garbage etc. are some of the features of LWMC that are exemplary.
Zeshan Khalil said that it was mentioned on LWMC website that total waste collection in Lahore had gone to 5607 tons. It seriously requires a lot of manpower and management skills to handle that much quantity of garbage to keep Lahore clean.
He said that LWMC is required to take well thought-out measures to develop integrated solid waste management system in Lahore which may be duplicated in other major cities of Pakistan in partnership with local companies.
“By way of signing up this MOU, we look forward to teaming up with you to contribute in planning and setting high standard of delivery. With these thoughts, I wish all of you the best of luck”, the LCCI Vice President concluded.
