KIF seeks release of funds for effluent treatment plants

Asks Sindh governor to help install these plants in industrial areas

KARACHI: The Karachi Industrial Forum (KIF) - an alliance of major industrial associations of the city - has urged Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair to honour his promise of providing help in establishing Combined Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) in the industrial areas of Karachi.

In a letter written to the Sindh governor, KIF spokesman Muhammad Jawed Bilwani said the federal government had failed to allocate funds for the effluent treatment plants. The federal government is going to approve the federal budget 2017-18 on June 14.

Zubair had assured the KIF leadership of allocating funds for the treatment plants in Karachi during a meeting on March 20. Developing the CETPs is a condition of the GSP Plus status accorded to Pakistan by the European Union under which it allows 20% of Pakistan’s exports to enter the European market at zero tariff.

The deal has pushed Pakistan’s exports up by about $1 billion per year. However, the GSP Plus status is reviewed and monitored every two years and failure to abide by the regulations can lead to withdrawal of the facility.

Member states of the World Trade Organization also consider installation of CETPs in industrial areas as a prerequisite for allowing imports from foreign countries.

According to Osmani & Company, the company that prepared the latest PC-I in 2016 for five effluent treatment plants, the project would now cost around Rs11.39 billion. The report has already been submitted to the government.

It was proposed that 50% of the cost of CETPs would be borne by the federal government while the rest would be contributed by the Sindh government. The letter urged the Sindh governor to take up the matter at the highest level in Islamabad for the release of federal share at the earliest. The Sindh government has already allocated funds for the CETPs in the provincial budget for 2017-18.

Owing to the flawed planning, the project of installing waste water treatment plants in major industrial zones has never moved beyond the planning stage. Environmentalists state that the treatment plants will also prevent further damage to marine life because untreated industrial waste of the city is directly going into the Arabian Sea.

Perturbed by the slow progress, Karachi’s industrialists recently offered to bear operational expenses of these plants if the government completes their installation immediately.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.