ISLAMABAD: The Pak-EPA has made certain regulations in pursuance of respective Acts to carry out the purposes of the legislation, however there are deficiencies, according to an audit report issued by Auditor General of Pakistan for 2021-22. According to the report, there is need to address these deficiencies.
It added, “the Performance Audit was carried out with the aim to examine the process of granting environmental approvals and monitoring by federal and provincial EPAs covering period of three years from 1″ July, 2018 to 30 June, 2021”. A comprehensive planning process and desk audit activity followed by field audit was carried out to study the process in depth and breadth with a view to provide a comprehensive analysis and findings on the significant issues.
It is apparent from the audit findings, that the guiding legislation for environmental protection exists at federal levels. Moreover, the institutional and administrative arrangements are also in place in the shape of Pak-EPA. The Pak-EPA has also made certain regulations in pursuance of respective Acts to carry out the purposes of the legislation, however there are deficiencies which need to be addressed in this respect as highlighted in the audit observations.
The problem lies in proper and effective implementation of the provisions of law and the regulations made thereupon. On one hand, the monitoring mechanism of Pak-EPA is either non-existent or very weak resulting in unchecked activities by the concerns and units leading to environmental degradation. On the other hand, the enforcement apparatus is also very weak and the defaulter undertakings are not being penalized for environmental violations. The penalties are not effectively being imposed and recovered so as to create a deterrence, the audit report said.
The report added that the overall fee structure of Pak-EPA also needs to be reviewed to bring uniformity to decrease parity for the proponents in different jurisdictions.
Pak-EPA is facing resource constraints which hinder its functioning and performance to play an effective role in protecting environment. These constraints include financial and human resource as well as lack of equipment, machinery and labs, it maintained. The administrative departments should fast-track the recruitment of required staff and provision of necessary resources to the Agency enabling them to perform their functions as conceived in the framework of the guiding legislation, the report recommended.
