Green diplomacy: Thousands of cases pending as Punjab-EPA without a head

Over 1,000 cases have been accumulated in the backlog

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of litigators continue to wait for their cases to be resolved as the chairperson of the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (Punjab-EPA) has not been appointed for the past seven months.

The tribunal’s former chairperson, Khwaja Muhammad Afzal, retired on June 30, 2011 and the seat has been vacant ever since. According to officials in the agency, there are over 1,000 cases pending from last year. About 50 cases are registered with the Punjab-EPA every month, he added.

Advocate Muhammad Waqas Malik, who deals with environment cases in the federal capital, expressed serious concerns about the delay in the appointment of a chairperson. Important cases regarding illegal poultry farms in Murree have been pending and he urged the government to appoint a chairperson so “justice can be served to the litigants”.

Head of the tribunal’s legal department Mian Ijaz Ahmed said that a new head will be appointed after Punjab Environment Protection Act (PEPA) is passed. He added that the 18th Amendment is the main cause of the delay.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.