PublicInterestLawAssociationofPakistan

NewsletterDecember2017

Contents

MessagefromthePresident

HerecomestheNewsle=er!

Happenings

RotaryClub-LunchMeeEng

PILAP-KCILRTIWorkshop

PILAP-KCILPanelTalks

SALUStudentsMeeEng

WaterSimulaEonProject

PCCCKCILWorkshop

Advocacy

RighttoInformaEon

CiEzenshipRightsEducaEon

SocialMediaPublishing

PILAP+CitzensforRTI

PILAP+HisaarFoundaEon

LiEgaEon

WaterPolluEoninRiverRavi

EducaEonasFundamentalRight

SindhRighttoInformaEonLaws

MessagefromthePresident

PILAP continues on its journey to protect and promote thefundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan. We have madesignificant progress on the Citizenship Rights Education, River RaviCommissionandEducationPetitioninSindhHighcourtoverthelasttwomonths.Teacher Resource Centre (TRC) have completed the teacher’straining for “Citizenship Rights Education” and now we areevaluatingtheimpactofthecurriculumandtrainingonthestudents.Oncetheimpactstudyandremedialactionincorporated,sometimein June/July we plan to include more schools and train moreteachers. We will also advocate the training and workshops toEducation departments for inclusion in public schools.On theeducation petition front, on the last hearing of the EducationPetitioninNovember2017,PILAPhassubmittedtheconciseplanforthe judge to order the Sindh Government-Secretary Education foronwardimplementation.The “Bioremediation Plant” designs and basic engineering is inprogressandsoonwewillseeconstructionofpilotplantunder theauspices of the River Ravi Commission (created as an outcomeofLahore High Court in Writ Petition 9137 of 2012 led by PILAPagainstGovernmentofPunjabandothers).We continue to look for support from private citizens as well asprivate sector companies. We need more active members andvolunteers.WearealsolookingforfulltimelawyertojoinourPILAPteam.A lotof issues staypending in thepublic interestareawhichweneedtoresearch,advocateandfixandI lookforstrongsupportfrominterestedindividuals,bothtimeandmoney. Bestregards, Saad Amanullah Khan President, PILAP

HerecomestheNewsletter!

Duringthefallandwinter,PILAPhasremainedactive,monitoringourenvironment,stayingintouchwithpublicinterests,sharingtheknowledgeanddrivingawarenessamongstmembersandpublicatlarge. We aremeeting and looking up to similar interest organization to collaborate and pursueprovisionoffundamentalrights,sustainableenvironmentandgoodgovernance.

Each January, there is an election for the Executive Committeemembership of PILAP in place ofretiringdirectorsasper“RulesoftheAssociation”.Thisyear,PILAPhasreducedthenumberoftheExecutiveCommitteemembersfrom12to8tocongealandlivelyleadership.Theelectionforthe7thExecutive Committee of PILAPwill be held during January 2018 and this committeewill carry onmanagement from February 1st, 2018. We gratefully thank the outgoing EC members for theirefforts,welcomethenextECmanagementandwishthemaneventfulyear.

We keep updating and providing information about activities on our Facebook Page:FB.COM/PILAP.PK and ourWebsite http://www.PILAP.pk.We request all of you to like our posts,shareandbrowsefortherecentengagements/eventsandparticipatevigorously.

Withthisletusshareourrecenteffortsandactivities.

Happyreading!

307RegularPatrons

149Lifecme

76Annual

82Student

9PublicInterestCases

72RTIRequests

SelectedEventsatPILAP

1. RotaryClubofKarachiLunchMeetingOctober2017:

2. PILAP-KCIL“RighttoInformation”TrainingWorkshopNovember2017

PILAPandKCIL(CommunityInnovatorsLab)helda workshop to train students from urban(SMBBMC Lyari, Habib University Karachi) andrural (SALU Khairpur) universities for use “Rightto Information” laws to hold the governmentofficials accountable for use of public resourcesand perform effective duties. Students weredescribed theavailable legislation, citizen’srightto question government and public entities andhow to write effective communication pursuantto the laws. Students were enthusiastic andraised questions during practice to write RTIcorrespondences. They pledged to use the skillstoaddressrampantissuesaroundthem.

PILAP President was invited to address anofficialLunchMeetingofRotaryClubKarachihosted by Rotary. Our president put up anice presentation during his address aboutthe public interest issues to Rotarians andhow PILAP is trying to address throughadvocacy,litigationandeffortsinmedia.Themembers were impressed and participatedindiscussiononvarious issues.Heprovidedanswers totheirquestions.Theoverall aurawassupportiveandpledgeswereofferedtobecome member, support PILAP by RotaryClubparticipants.

3. PILAP-KCILPanelTalksonEducationandHeritageBuildingNovember2017

4. SALUStudentsMeetDHAClubNovember2017

PILAPandKCIL(KarachiCommunityInnovatorsLab)hostedPanelTalksonEducation andHeritage Buildings under “Civic InnovationTalk” program.PILAP president, Mr. Saad Amanullah Khan, moderated the event andpanelistspresentwere:

Dr.AmjadWaheedandMrs.RubinaNaqvionEducation,

Adv.ZubairAhmedandMr.ArifBelgaumionHeritageBuildings

The panelists briefed about current status of Education and HeritageBuildings, what PILAP is doing to address the issues. The audiencediscussed the issues with vigor and gave suggestions. The discussionsmostlytiltedtoward“Education”andmostquestionsweredirectedtoDr.AmjadWaheed. He patiently responded and listened to the suggestionswithnotablecontributionfromthemoderatorandotherpanelists.

In continuous efforts to bring youth topublic interest issues, PILAP’s Presidentinvited village students from rural Sindhareas studying at Shah Abdul LatifUniversity, Khairpur with their professor,Mr. Sarfraz Khorejo. The students wereequally passionate to learn about PILAPand learned how to use “Right toInformation”lawsfortheirregionalissuesand good governance. The studentsapprised the president of various issuesincluding bad state of education, waterprovisions, health services and transport.Theyvowed touseRTI and supportPILAPin its efforts. We invited them to attendRTIworkshop.

5. HabibUni.Students“WaterSurvey/Simulation”December2017

6. PakistanChowkCommunityCenter“KCILWorkshop”December2017

PILAP President has metMiss Farwa andMr. Uzair during Future of WaterConference about their innovative Waterlinesimulationproject.Wecalledthemupfor a meeting at PILAP office to furtherunderstand and understand the utility ofproject. The team showed us their pilotsimulation of selective Orangi Town areaandKarachiwatermap.Theyareplanningtomakedesignofwaterinfrastructure,itsreservoirs, storage and pipeline systemmap of the Karachi. It will helpstreamliningthe issuesandaidtheWaterBoard.TheteamhasbeenrecentlyinvitedtoUS for their presentation andwewishthemluckintheirendeavor.

PILAP Presidentwas invited to PakistanChowk Community Center to talk toStudents in a workshop by KCIL. Hemingled with students and told themabout PILAP, issues we are working onand especially “Right to Information”.He discussed with students on variousissues and answered their queries. Thestudents were impressed, vowed tovolunteer the time & efforts for publicinterest issues and most becamestudent members of PILAP then andthere.

Advocacyefforts

1. RightToInformationLawandPILAPrequeststoGovernment/PublicBodies:PILAP in its efforts to eradicate corruption and negligence of public offices, made itsmandate to bring a change in the way governance is done and monitored. We keep aconsistentlookoutandinformthegovernmentofwrongdoingsthroughRTIrequests.Somerecentexamples:CuttingofMangroveTreesinBinQasimPortArea:ContinuingrampanteradicationoftreesandfaunaprevalentinKarachiandanotherincidenttookournotice.Theauthoritiesallowedcutting 882 mangrove trees in order to facilitate LNG plant, declared “protected” underForestry Act 1927. Mrs. Ayesha Bilal directed the news item to PILAPhttps://www.dawn.com/news/1358945/over-800-mangroves-to-be-cut-down-to-make-way-for-lng-project.PILAPsentanRTIrequesttoprovincialSindhEnvironmentalProtectionAuthority(SEPA)inquiringabouttheincidentandtoknowifanNOChasbeensoughtfromForestryDepartment.We requested a copy ofNOC if available.Due to no response fromSEPA,areminder(InternalReview)hasbeendulysent.DisasterManagement ineventofCatastrophicStorms:Ontheweathernewsofexpectantseastormsorheavyrainsnearseashoreduringendyear2017,PILAPhasrequestedunderfederalRTI laws to sendusa copyof SOP (StandardOperatingProcedures) toEarthquakeReconstruction and Rehabilitations Authority, Islamabad for preparation and measuresduring suchanevent, ifoccurred.By thegraceofAlmighty, the storms turnedaway fromKarachi,Pakistanseashore.AircraftFitnessandCrewSkillsofNationalAirline:UAEAirportauthoritiesrecentlywarnedPIAofficialsand told tostopsupportat theirairportsdue to their lackof skilledcrewandlow fitness of used aircrafts. PILAP written to PIAC under RTI for response and describeactionsbeingtakenontheincidenttoavoidshameandharmtonationalairline.Abuse ofNational Assets by Political Elite: InDecember, Sukkur Airport loungewas beingusedforrestingandlunchhostedbytheparliamentoppositionleadertothepoliticalpartyworkers.We informedandsentanRTI letter toCivilAviationAuthority toprovidecopyofNOCifgivenanddescribedisciplinaryactionstakenontheincident.Follow up: PILAP is keeping a register for all the RTI requests, acknowledgments and anyrepliessenttous.Wekeepremindingthepublicofficesfortherequestsandwillapproachthecourtforimplementationifnecessary,subjecttoresourcesandfundsavailable.

2. CitizenshipRightsEducation

This project aims to bring back to our schools the concept of ‘Citizenship’. To accomplishthis,a teacher’scurriculumisbeingdevelopedforclasses1-10teachers,whichwillenablestudentstolearnaboutCitizenshipRights.Thetrainedteacherswilldeliverthiscurriculumin day-to-day coaching to their students without adding any further burden on students.Therefore,thefocusisnotonlyonwhatistaughtbutonhowitisbeingtaught.

The Teachers Resource Center is an association of seasoned teachers andmemberswhoassistinteacherstrainingandsyllabusdevelopmentformorethanlast20years.

TheTeachers’ResourceCentrehascompletedthetraining of selected schoolteachers. Currently weare engaged in observation and monitoring thetrained teachers and their schools for impact oftraining.Oncewehavetestedandsucceededwiththispilotproject(9schools,3private3publicand3NGO),wehopetoconvincemoreschoolsaswellasprovincial governments to include thematerialin routine tutorials in all their public schools.Welook forward toourmembersanddonors tohelpuscompletetheprojectasit isbeingpushedbackdue to lack of funds. This project is a keyinvestment in educatingour youthon their rightsascitizensofPakistan.

3. SocialMediaPublishingWe have reinvigorated our social media efforts and are actively posting news, blogs andarticles ontoourwebsite, keeping it dynamic,with our Facebook and twitter pages beingroutinely updated. We request our members to keep connected to our website“www.pilap.pk”,followusonFacebookandtwitter.Yourinterestandparticipationwillhelpus produce useful content and engage with the general public and members on theimportanceofPubicInterest.

4. LiaisonwithCitizensforRighttoInformationWe have had few meetings with Citizens for Right to Information (CRTI) initiativechairpersonMr.NaeemSadiq,Dr.RazaGardeziandothermembers.WeplantosignaMoUtocollaborateonmutualissuesandshareresearch/articles.Dr.RazaGardeziisworkingwithPILAPonapetitiontotheSindhHighCourtforimplementationof“SindhTransparencyandRighttoInformationAct,2016”.

5. LiaisonwithHisaarFoundationIna recent“FutureofWaterConference”byHisaarFoundation,bothPILAPpresidentandAdvocate Ahmad Rafay Alam met with Hisaar Foundation management. In a follow upmeeting with Hisaar Foundation Chairperson, we discussed the mutual avenues ofcooperation and would sign a MoU with Hisaar Foundation too. PILAP is planning to doadvocacy and file a petitionwith research support fromHisaar Foundation about “Waterpollution” inKarachi basedon theprecedentof similar petition at the LahoreHighCourt.AdvocateAhmadRafayAlamhasshowninterestinpursuingthecaseatSindhHighCourtaswellforPILAP.

PILAPSurveytoprioritizeissues:

Recently,PILAP did asurveyon Facebookand requested the audience to give prioritytosomeof the issuesthatPILAP isengagedin and to rate them most important on ascaleof1 (HighPriority) to7 (LowPriority).Theresultsprovidedustheinsightintowhatour members and other citizens felt wereissues of high priority.Water Pollutiontoppedthecharts..

LitigationUpdates:

PILAP is pursuing litigation on various fronts of Education, Access to Justice, Water Pollution,DisasterManagement in case of a Nuclear Incident and Heritage preservation. The following aresomecurrentupdates:

1.WaterPollutionatRiverRavi

The Lahore High Court based on PILAP’s petition has constituted a commission “River RaviCommission”tooverseeandmonitortheeffortsforconstructionofwatertreatmentplantswiththehelp of industries, the Government of Punjab, WASA and inform the court about the progressthereof.

RiverRaviCommissioniscontinuouslymonitoringtheprogressandfacilitatingthedialoguebetweengovernment departments and pursuing construction of “Bio-remediation” plant as pilot to bereplicatedalongtheRiverRavi.Theconstructionofplantisinbasicengineeringanddesignphase.

2.EducationasaFundamentalHumanRight

PILAPpetition ispendingwiththeSindhHighCourt forpursuingSindhGovernmenttoprovide forFundamentalHumanRightofeducationtoitscitizens.InarecenthearinginNovember2017,PILAPhasprovidedconciseplantothehonorableJudgeofSindhHighCourttoreviewandordertheSindhGovernmenttoimplementactions.

3.SindhTransparenciesandRighttoInformationAct,2016

We have sent letters to ChiefMinister and Principal Secretary of Sindh to implement the “SindhTransparencyandRighttoInformationAct,2016”ineffectandessence.Duetolackofeffect,PILAPisplanningtofileapetitionwiththeSindhHighCourtforpursuingSindhGovernmenttoimplementthebasicstructureasprescribedinthelawtoappointaChiefInformationOfficecentrallyandsetupPublic Information Desk with a designated Information officer at each and every public office,departmentandinstitution.