The meeting was chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development Department, Ghulam Sarwar Khero. The committee discussed the draft strategy in detail.
The Additional Chief Secretary said that department has developed the Sindh Strategy for Sustainable Development (SSSD) in collaboration with IUCN, which is envisaged to serve as a holistic framework for development work in Sindh. He added that the strategy has been developed through extensive consultative process and in this regard 22 sectoral workshop were held besides two workshops at Hyderabad and Sukkur.
The Special Secretary Planning and Development Rehana Ghulam Ali presented background and overview of the strategy. She said that the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) developed in 1992 had recommended that each province should develop their provincial conservation strategies.
In this regard, NWFP developed its strategy in 1996, while Balochistan completed in 2000. She said that Sindh would be third province in the country to have such kind of strategy.
Speaking on the occasion Secretary to Government of Sindh, Mohammad Hashim Leghari said agriculture sector is facing the acute problem of surpluses particularly in rice and sugarcane. He added that this trend is major reason of high incidence of poverty. He informed that in WTO conference developed countries have agreed to withdraw subsidies by 2030. He suggested that subsidies would enable farmers to compete with global market forces. He added that riverine forests are important part of environment but due to water shortage they have been degraded at alarming scale.
He suggested that inundation of forests may ensured and revived. He emphasised the need of soil conservation for sustainable agriculture.
The Secretary Irrigation and Power, Shuja Ahmed Junejo said that reliable data is crucial for planning purposes. He said that on going reforms in irrigation sector through SIDA in Sindh needs to be revisited and weaknesses may be improved. He said that water availability is decreasing and food demand is increasing. In this scenario, the challenge is to address the water shortage and enhance the agriculture productivity, which is corresponding to increasing population.
He said for downstream Kotri barrage, international panel of experts have recommended that sustainable flow of five thousand cusecs throughout the year may be ensured. This would cater the needs of fisheries, mangroves and riverine forests in the area of 230 kilometers below Kotri barrage.
He added that there are no sites for small or carry over dams as rainfall is very scanty in Sindh.
The Secretary Culture and Tourism, Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said that data base is being developed on heritage sites in Sindh. She added that efforts are being made to activate Sindh tourism development corporation (STDC).
The Secretary minerals and mining Abdul Hameed Akhund said that mining training board is being set up at Jamshoro and Thar. He added that quality education could provide basis for sustainable society. He added that with physical infrastructure alone could not guarantee sustainable development.
Javed Jabbar in his remarks said environmental tribunals are legal reality but yet to be given concrete shape in the province.
He said that land ownership pattern in Sindh presents highly inequitable statistics which is directly lined to livelihood of people. He suggested that 2.7 million acres state land may be allocated to landless to reduce poverty. He said that enservices sector is fifty percent of GNP, which covers transportation and construction sector. He said that adequate stress may be given to protect ecology in coal mining in Thar. He said that religious tourism in Sindh also need to be considered in planning process.
Dr Suleman Shaikh said that uncontrolled and undersigned urbanisation is taking place at high rate in the province. He said that for any development law and order play significant role. He said that unemployment is major problem and the social security concept may be introduced.
The Secretary Livestock and Fisheries Dr Baz Mohammad Junejo said that many investors are investing in livestock and fisheries sector. He said that Palla fish has been diminished. He said that a major stakeholder in the fishing sector is fishermen community. He suggested that post harvest storage facilities may be given to fishermen. He added that zones may be developed for shrimp farming particularly in Badin and Thatta.
The IUCN Country Representative, Abdul Latif Rao said that the strategy would provide vision and road map for the development. He added that this would be umbrella framework, which would provide future direction. Rao said that instead of focusing on sectoral interests, holistic approach may be adopted which could contribute in the development of the province. He said this is inter-sectoral exercise as each sector is interdependent. He said that strategy provides an opportunity to make difference in coming years.
The special secretary local government Dr Siddique Memon, the additional secretary agriculture Dr Noor ul Haq, additional secretary population Ahmed Riaz Khan, additional secretary labour S. M Kaleem, Dr Mobina Aagboatwalla, Dr Ejaz Ahmed, Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, Tahir Qureshi, Nasir Ali Panhwar, Rafi ul Haq and others participated in the discussion.-PR