Bestway Group CEO hails CJ’s dam initiative

LONDON: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bestway Group, Zameer Choudrey, has welcomed initiative of dams’ construction by the Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, terming it essential for the long-term progress of Pakistan.

In an interview here with The News/Jang, Zameer Choudrey said that he was thankful to the chief justice for publicly acknowledging the contribution made by Bestway Group in Pakistan and the testimony from the chief justice in person was a proof that the Bestway Group was doing ethical business in Pakistan. He referred to a recent case which saw the Bestway Group being in news in relation to water consumption and said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan personally investigated the whole case at the highest level and concluded that Group was not involved in any kind of violation of law and was in fact abiding by all the laws in true spirit.

In fact Bestway Cement has invested Rs1.8 billion in water preservation measures, including the installation of new air cooling condensing plants, the first of its kind in Pakistan, to reduce its water requirements by over 80%.

At the fundraising event organised by the World Congress of Overseas Pakistanis, the chief justice praised owners of Bestway Group, Sir Anwar Pervez and Zameer Choudrey for playing their part in the Supreme Court’s drive for water preservation and thanked the Group for its role in doing business the right way.

Zameer Choudrey stressed that Group has always ensured that not only the group’s business grows in Pakistan but also that it grows in a manner that is in the best interests of Pakistan with more jobs added to the market, ethical practices adopted and nature preserved.

“We are glad that the Honourable Chief Justice saw our work himself and found that we work in a transparent and honest manner, that we deliver and we are committed to our work ethos and we attempt to fulfil our commitments to the best of our abilities,” he added.

Zameer Choudrey said that his business group has always stood by Pakistan, be it during the earthquake and floods or at any other time when Pakistan needed help. He said that the Bestway Group has donated £600,000 for dams’ construction in addition to the £300,000 (collectively Rs153.8m) it had previously donated. Choudrey said the Group was happy to be playing its role and taking part in raising funds.

Zameer Choudrey said that the issue of water scarcity posed existential threat to Pakistan and it was unfortunate that for many decades no attention was paid to do any planning to meet the scarcity issue. He said that due to climate change and depleting resources Pakistan was short of means and resources and the CJP had done the right thing by identifying this most important issue to deal with. He appealed to the government and private sector to help the cause of establishing dams as it relates to “the future of Pakistan”.