Low priority: Perennially vacant slots weaken Pak-EPA

Shortage of technical staff mars performance; DG claims fresh hiring under way

ISLAMABAD: An acute shortage of technical and secretarial staff at the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) is hampering performance of the environment supervisory body.

Posts such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) director and labs director have been vacant for six months, while Administration Director Fahim Riaz has gone on leave ahead of his retirement (leave preparatory to retirement - LPR).

Former EIA Director Ziaul Islam retired earlier in June this year and his replacement has not been appointed yet.

Meanwhile, Ziauddin Khattak, director of the Lab and National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) went on his LPR six months ago. He is expected to retire once his leave expires in another six months.

Intriguingly, the Labs and NEQS deputy director slot had fallen vacant after its incumbent, Farzana Altaf Shah, had been promoted as Pak-EPA director general a couple of months ago.

Similarly, the environmental watchdog is currently working without a legal director. The position fell vacant after Muhammad Dilawar Azad retired in September.

The posts of administration deputy director, research and investigation deputy director are also lying vacant.

Pak-EPA has also been facing an acute shortage of technical and laboratory staff including lab technicians, stenographers, lab assistants, assistant clerks and other positions for many years.

Sources told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that the authority was working with only 60 per cent of its approved staff strength, which had affected its enforcement operations.

“Sufficient staff is the primary requirement for enforcement of environmental laws, but the issue remains unresolved despite the appointment of a new DG,” a Pak-EPA source said on the condition of anonymity.

Owing to poor implementation of environmental laws, pollution in the federal capital has noticeably increased, while development and construction activities are being carried out without proper environmental impact assessments (EIA) or initial environmental examination (IEE) reports.

“There is no proper check on industrial pollution or solid and hospital waste, while air pollution monitoring labs have been dormant for a while,” Green Islamabad Member Dr Duska Syed said.

When The Express Tribune contacted Pak-EPA DG Shah, she said that they had completed work on overcoming staff shortages and that Climate Change Secretary Abu Ahmed Akif had forwarded a requisition to the Establishment Division to fill the vacant posts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2016.