HYDERABAD – Sindh Education Minister Jam Methab Hussain Dehar along with (USAID) Mission Director Jerry Bisson and Deputy Mission Director Denise Herbal Thursday inaugurated the newly established building of ‘US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Study in Water (USPCAS-W)’ at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro.
He extended thanks and appreciation to the American people and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for full financial support, including funding for this Center, and also thanks to the University of Utah for providing technical and capacity building support for the Center.
He also congratulated to the Vice Chancellor Mehran University and the Project Director of the Center for having such state-of-the-art building, adding that water-related challenges of the country which are multi-dimensional and multi-faceted could be addressed in accordance with the latest methods and technologies of water preservation.
He said that water shortage, low system efficiency, conventional irrigation methods leading to inefficient use of water resources, low water productivity, mining of ground water including brackish water, limited availability of clean drinking water and so on were the key issues which needs to be addressed.
This is beside the challenges related to limited storage capacity and decreasing availability of water from the current water storage structures, he added.
He said that effective development and management of the country’s water resources were therefore vital to Pakistan’s overall economic development, food security and health of its population.
“We need to take necessary steps on war footing which require policy makers, researchers, advocacy groups, development professionals and civil society groups to join hands to draw appropriate plans and policies to sensitize and engage all stakeholders on critical water issues, challenges and opportunities in order to address the above challenges and achieve sustainable water development and management, he added.
He informed that Sindh Water Sector Improvement Project (WSIP) was also part of the Planning and Development Department and engaged in improving water use efficiency, overcoming water scarcity and implementation of IWRM plans.
b We are also focusing our efforts to ensure supply of safe drinking water and sanitation servicesb , the minister informed and added that Clean Water Project of Mehran University is also part of this initiative and many other projects.
Qureshi also addressed the participants of the inauguration ceremony.