Coca-Cola Icecek (CCI) Pakistan signs MoU agreement with PHA

Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd. (CCI Pakistan), which is part of CCI – a leading bottler within the Coca-Cola System, signed an agreement with Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Lahore to provide treated wastewater. CCI Pakistan being a responsible corporate citizen will provide treated wastewater to PHA for a period of five years for carrying out routine watering of green belts, parks, and cleaning of roads in Lahore.

This initiative will help conserve millions of litres of precious drinking water which is currently being extracted from the ground for the purpose of horticulture watering.  CCI Pakistan’s Lahore plant has a capacity to provide up to 40,000 liters of treated wastewater per hour to PHA which indicates the massive volume of fresh drinking water that will be conserved through this strategic partnership.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony held on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at PHA’s head office in Lahore between Basit Zafar Pirzada, Public Affairs Manager at CCI Pakistan, and Muhammad Awais Bhatti, Director Planning and Development at PHA Lahore. Also present were senior officials including Fahad Ashraf, VP & General Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan region at The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Jawad Ahmed Qureshi, Director General PHA, Yasir Gillani, Chairman PHA. Other notable guests included Justice (R) Ali Akbar Qureshi, Chairman Water Commission, and Zahid Aziz Syed, Managing Director WASA.

While talking about the strategic importance of this partnership, Fahad Ashraf, VP & General Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan region at The Coca-Cola Export Corporation said, “The Coca-Cola system’s intense focus to appropriately treat water utilized during the manufacturing process and return it back to nature has moved wastewater treatment from a goal to a standard operating requirement. In crucial times when Pakistan is faced with the water scarcity challenge, the Coca-Cola system is fully committed towards playing its part to help shape a more sustainable future for all”.

Talking about this milestone agreement with reference to adopting sustainable practices, Jawad Ahmed Qureshi, Director General at PHA said, “Water crisis is amongst the most pressing issues faced by Pakistan today. Through public-private partnerships, we aim to resolve this challenge by adopting modern sustainable practices that conserve this precious resource and builds an environment-friendly eco-system so we can progress with responsibility”.

Water is at the core of sustainable development and crucial for socio-economic prosperity, healthy ecosystems and for human survival itself. Water is a finite and irreplaceable resource and only renewable if managed well. Today, more than 1.7 billion people live in river basins where depletion through use exceeds natural recharge, a trend that will see two-thirds of the world’s population living in water-stressed countries by 2025. Water can pose a serious challenge to sustainable development. If managed efficiently and equitably, water can play a key enabling role in strengthening the resilience of social, economic, and environmental systems in the light of rapid and unpredictable changes.