Staff Reporter
Pakistan was consuming 55 billion plastic bags per annum that were polluting the environment and government has planned to ban the use of plastic bags in a phase wise manner across the country to save the environment from their negative impact.
As a pilot project, use of plastic bags would be banned in Islamabad from August 14 and business community should produce substitutes of these bags to promote the Prime Minister’s Vision of Clean and Green Pakistan. This was observed by Hassan Nasir Jamy, Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change while addressing the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He visited ICCI along with Hamza Shafqaat, Deputy Commissioner ICT for an awareness session for business community on Clean and Green Pakistan. Hassan Nasir Jamy said that Islamabad was generating 700 to 1000 ton waste daily, but there was no arrangement for its disposal. He said that a waste disposal plant would be installed in federal capital to cope with solid waste and produce fuel for industry. He said urban forestry would be launched in Islamabad and Lahore in coming days to promote the tree plantation campaign. He said that the current government had set a target of planting 10 billion in Pakistan trees during its tenure while housing societies in Islamabad had planted over 0.6 million trees so far. He stressed that business community should cooperate in tree plantation campaign by planting trees in industrial and commercial areas.
Hamza Shafqaat, Deputy Commissioner ICT said that land and list of trees had been identified for tree plantation in Islamabad that would be shared with business community so that they could contribute to this campaign. He said that 0.4 million trees had been planted in various sectors of Islamabad while more trees would be planted in collaboration with the local business community.
He said that total 1 million trees had been planted in Islamabad during the last one year and encroachments from Nullahs were being removed. He assured that ban on plastic bags in Islamabad would be implemented in cooperation with business community.
