The Fire and Safety Association of Pakistan (FSAP) has sought unanimous support to approve the final draft of the National Fire and Safety Policy of Pakistan 2010. At a conference held here at TMA hall in Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi over 300 fire and safety professionals and executives of organizations such as Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), Fire Protection Association of Pakistan (FPAP), and Punjab Emergency Service (PES) Rescue 1122 appealed the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of the delay in approval of the unanimously agreed draft policy.
Speaking on the occasion, acting president of FSAP Ghulam Mohammad Naz said that heavy loss of lives and properties were suffered by Pakistan during the 2005 earthquake, 2010 flooding and in other daily emergencies. These losses can be significantly reduced if a national-level fire and safety policy is in place.
All members of the forum thanked members of the United Nations Development Programme, FPAP, all major stockholders across the country and hundreds of fire and safety professionals who contributed to develop the final draft of the policy. The forum, in particular, appreciated the efforts of Fire and Safety Expert Captain Suleman Shah Mahtab, who propose practical solutions in the form of a comprehensive draft of fire and safety policy. But despite submission of the policy draft several months ago, the NDMA is keeping it on hold and as a result the nation is suffering heavy losses which could have been avoided or minimized, the members said.
A clear and unanimous policy on fire and safety will ensure efficiency, coordination, professionalism, dignity and welfare of servicemen, resource management and high morale among all concerned departments, said PES Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer, who was the chief guest on the occasion. He acknowledged the exemplary services of fire fighters, rescuers and other professionals and awarded them with honorary shields for their extraordinary honesty and bravery.
Individuals awarded honorary shields by FSAP included Aqeel Ahmed (SI) for returning Rs1 million to the family of an unconscious patient, Ikram Abbasi (LFR) for returning US $3,000 that were found in the Air Blue plane crash over Margalla Hills, an Emergency Officer Ahsan for his brave participation in the Manawa bomb blast and fire incident, among others.
All recipients of awards and the participants of the events insisted the government, opposition Leaders, civil society and media to play their role in urgent approval of the fire and safety policy. They said that the draft policy is to become the first-ever “National Fire, Safety and Emergency Management Act of Pakistan”.
Former Deputy Attorney General Agha Traiq Mehmood expressed disappointed over the delay in approval of the fire and safety policy. He said, “If the government is serious in safeguarding the lives and properties of its people, it is the need of the hour that the government implements this [fire and safety] policy.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2011.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ