• by IPS Correspondents (lahore)
• Saturday, November 19, 1994
• Inter Press Service

LAHORE, Nov 19 (IPS) - PAKISTAN'S FLEDGLING GREEN MOVEMENT IS DETERMINED TO BLOCKADE THE IMPORT OF A CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT BY A PRIVATE FIRM FROM DENMARK BECAUSE OF ITS USE OF POLLUTING TECHNOLOGY.

IN A COUNTRY WHERE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS WERE SET AS RECENTLY AS ONE YEAR AGO, AND WHERE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE STANDARDS REMAINS DOUBTFUL, POLLUTERS CAN LITERALLY GET AWAY WITH MURDER.

BUT GROWING PUBLIC CONCERN AND AWARENESS ABOUT THE ISSUE IS MAKING EVADING ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT AS THE OWNERS OF RAVI ALKALIS, A PRIVATE PAKISTANI FIRM PLANNING TO IMPORT THE CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT DISCOVERED RECENTLY.

"IF WE HAD HAD AN INKLING THAT THIS PLANT WOULD CAUSE SUCH AN UPROAR, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TOUCHED IT WITH A BARGE POLE," A RAVI ALKALIS OFFICIAL TOLD IPS, REQUESTING ANONYMITY.

THE ISSUE HIT INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES RECENTLY WHEN 'GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL' JOINED FORCES WITH PAKISTANI NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS (NGOS) TO STOP THE IMPORT OF THE PLANT.

THE CONTROVERSIAL CHLOR-ALKALI FACTORY IS PART OF THE INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL COMPLEX (INCLUDING POWER GENERATION AND FATTY ACIDS PLANTS) SOLD TO RAVI ALKALIS BY DANSK SOJAKAGEFABRIK (DS) INDUSTRIES, COPENHAGEN.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS OPPOSE ITS IMPORT BECAUSE IT USES MERCURY CELL TECHNOLOGY, THE MOST POLLUTING OF THE THREE KNOWN CHLOR- ALKALI TECHNOLOGIES, AS ESCAUSE OF ITS HAZARDOUS BY-PRODUCT CHLORINE, ALREADY PRODUCED IN EXCESS BY PAKISTAN.

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO OPERATE A MERCURY CELL CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT WITHOUT PRODUCING LIQUID EFFLUENT," SAYS RUTH STRINGER OF THE EARTH RESOURCES CENTRE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER, U.K. IN A LETTER TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY INSTITUTE (SDPI), A PAKISTANI NGO. # STRINGER, WHO STUDIED A REPORT ON THE SALE OF MERCURY CELL TECHNOLOGY TO PAKISTAN BY THE PAKISTANI SENATE'S ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE, SAYS THAT EMISSIONS INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND SOLID MERCURY CONTAMINATED WASTES ARE ALSO INEVITABLE.

"YOU CAN'T REDUCE THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE PLANT," SAYS ANN LEONARD, A TOXIC TRADE INVESTIGATOR WITH GREENPEACE WHO WAS RECENTLY IN PAKISTAN. "IT'S LIKE PRODUCING A LESS LETHAL MACHINE GUN".

THE ISSUE HAS GATHERED MOMENTUM WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE PAKISTAN WORKERS CONFEDERATION, A COUNTRY-WIDE UMBRELLA GROUP FOR 45 TRADE UNIONS.

THE PWC HAS ANNOUNCED THAT ITS WORKERS WILL PREVENT THE PLANT FROM BEING UNLOADED IF IT REACHES KARACHI HARBOUR "BY FORCE IF NECESSARY".

"A LOT OF OTHER THINGS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE DONE BY FORCE," SHRUGS KARAMAT ALI, DIRECTOR OF THE PAKISTAN INSTITUTE OF LABOUR AND EDUCATION RESEARCH (PILER), "THIS WILL BE ANOTHER ONE OF THEM".

LEONARD, WHO HAS ADDRESSED TWO JOINT PRESS CONFERENCES WITH PAKISTANI NGOS AND TRADE UNIONS ON THE ISSUE IN ISLAMABAD AND LAHORE, HOPES IT WON'T COME TO THAT.

A GREENPEACE SHIP HAS ALREADY REACHED COPENHAGEN HARBOUR, AND WILL BLOCKADE THE SHIP CARRYING THE CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT IF IT TRIES TO LEAVE, SHE SAYS.

ALSO, A MEMBER OF THE DANISH PARLIAMENT HAS INTRODUCED A BILL CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STOP THE EXPORT.

"I HOPE TO GOD THEY STOP THE PLANT IN COPENHAGEN", SAYS A RAVI ALKALIS OFFICIAL ASKING NOT TO BE QUOTED. "IT'S MORE TROUBLE THAN IT'S WORTH."

ASKED WHY RAVI COULDN'T TAKE THE INITIATIVE AND BACK OUT OF THE DEAL, SHE REPLIED, "WE CAN'T. THERE'S TOO MUCH MONEY INVOLVED." # LEONARD INFORMED A CROWDED PRESS CONFERENCE HERE THAT ACTIVISTS IN COPENHAGEN HAD BEGUN A CANDLELIGHT VIGIL TO PROTEST THE SHIPMENT OF THE MERCURY-CONTAMINATED PLANT TO PAKISTAN.

GREENPEACE ALSO CIRCULATED A LETTER TO PAKISTANI NGOS FROM DANISH CITIZENS WHO HAD LIVED NEAR THE PLANT, SUPPORTING THE ORGANISATIONS TRYING TO PREVENT ITS IMPORT.

"FOR 20 YEARS WE HAVE BEEN PROTESTING AGAINST THE PLANT", SAYS THE LETTER, BELYING INFORMATION PASSED TO THE PAKISTANI PARLIAMENT THAT OBJECTIONS TO THE PLANT HAVE COME ONLY FROM GREENPEACE.

THE NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE FOR INSTALLING THE PLAPT HAS BEEN ISSUED "ON FALSE GROUNDS. APPARENTLY RAVI ALKALI'S EIS (ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT) IMPLIES THAT THERE WILL BE NO LIQUID EFFLUENTS FROM THE PLANT NOR ANY LEAKAGE OF TOXIC GASES,"THE LETTER SAYS.

BUT, "HERE, FOR SEVERAL YEARS INHABITANTS OF THE AREA WERE FORBIDDEN TO GROW THEIR OWN VEGETBLES BECAUSE OF MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM THE CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT," IT ADDS.

THE LETTER SAYS THAT 97 PERCENT OF THE WORKERS AT THE PLANT HAD HIGHER THAN ACCEPTABLE (BY WHO STANDARDS) MERCURY IN THEIR URINE. AND "IN THE ENTIRE GREATER COPENHAGEN COASTAL AREAS, FISHING IS STILL PROHIBITED DUE TO FORMER MERCURY DISCHARGES FROM THE PLANT."

ALTHOUGH THE PLANT KEPT WITHIN LEGALLY IMPOSED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS UNTIL IT WAS SHUT DOWN IN 1991, THIS WAS DUE TO "EXTREMELY CLOSE INSPECTION AND STRICT ENFORCEMENT BY AUTHORITIES RESPONDING TO RESIDENTS' COMPLAINTS," IT SAYS.

AND EVEN THEN, SAY THE RESIDENTS, MERCURY WAS STILL DISCHARGED.IN PAKISTAN, WHERE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS ARE NOT AS STRICT, AND WHERE INDUSTRIALISTS ARE POWERFUL DUE TO THEIR WEALTH AND POLITICAL CONNECTIONS, THERE IS NOT EVEN A CHANCE THAT THE PLANT WILL BE PROPERLY MONITORED AND CONTROLLED, SAY ENVIRONMENTALISTS. # "WHAT THE CURRENT TRADE IS REALLY ALL ABOUT, IS A DANISH COMPANY TRYING TO GET RID OF AN OLD PRODUCTION PLANT WHICH WAS NO LONGER ECONOMICALLY SOUND NOR ABLE TO MEET FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS", SAYS THE DANISH CITIZENS' LETTER. # ENVIRONMENTALISTS AGREE THAT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ARE EXCELLENT DUMPING GROUND FOR INDUSTRIES FROM THE WESTERN WORLD DUE TO LAXER STANDARDS.

ALTHOUGH INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO DUMP TOXIC MATERIAL IN OTHER COUNTRIES, "THIS IS MORE ECONOMICAL THAN THE COST OF CONFORMING TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES" SAYS NISAR AHMED OF THE GOVERNMENT-RUN PAKISTAN COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (PCSIR).

PAKISTAN'S GREENS ARE PLANNING TO USE THE ISSUE AS A STARTING POINT IN THEIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION.

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