BY SEAN HEALY
MELBOURNE — Friends of the Earth Australia and the Melbourne University Student Union have condemned the involvement of a corporate wing of the University of Melbourne in illegal oil and gas exploration in Pakistan's Kirthar National Park.
The Hawthorn Consulting Group, a wing of the university's Melbourne Enterprise Investments, is engaged in a joint venture with Shell-Premier in the park, a protected area north of Karachi which is on the United Nations' list of protected sites and which is home to a unique range of species and local communities.
If and when natural gas starts being extracted, the park will face possible water contamination, gas flaring and spills from pipelines.
According to the groups, Shell-Premier's activities violate the Sindh Wildlife Act and potentially also the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act.
"The official partners of this project, including the Hawthorn Consulting Group, have failed to fulfill any of the commitments made during the public consultation process", commented Farhan Anwar, the convenor of International Union for the Conservation of Nature's sub-committee on the Kirthar project. "This project is setting a dangerous precedent in the efforts to preserve the natural environment in Pakistan".
"Following disastrous publicity over their operations in Nigeria and with the Brent Spar incident, Shell has spent several years re-inventing itself as being committed to sustainable development" said Cam Walker, of Friends of the Earth Australia.
"But action speaks louder than words and the current project in Pakistan makes a mockery of company claims that they are 'striving to be responsible members of society'. The company must not proceed with this controversial project."
The Melbourne University Student Union's education officer, Keren Adams, commented "It seems the consequences of pursuing our vice-chancellor's aggressive brand of internationalisation extend beyond smaller class sizes and up-front fees. Corporate collusion in a developing nation has created, in the words of one Pakistani NGO, 'certain prospects for irreversible ecological damage'. This University's idea of academic integrity has reached a new low."
For detailed background on the issue visit: <http://www.union.unimelb.edu.au/farrago>.