Daily Times

LAHORE: A certificate distribution ceremony of Al-Jazari Water & Sanitation Academy was held at the University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore, for the successful participants of all previous courses conducted at the academy under the project in last two years.

Al-Jazari Academy is established under the project titled Capacity Building of WASAs in Punjab Province, technically assisted by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in collaboration with the government of Punjab. Al-Jazari Academy completed its first phase of trainings in April 2018.

Al-Jazari Academy Principal Dr Kiran Farhan welcomed the participants and shared the details of courses. Al-Jazari Academy has trained almost 300 engineers from Water & Sanitation Agencies in the last two years. The academy has foreign qualified faculty with extensive industry experience, engaged specifically by urban unit to impart the necessary technical skills and knowledge for the participants of courses.

Speaking at the ceremony, Urban Unit Chief Exectutive Officer Dr Nasir Javed said, “The capacity building sessions at Al-Jazari are the best examples of international collaboration in the domain of water and sanitation, as Pakistani and Japanese experts have worked together to devise some innovative trainings. We need to build the capacity of our people for use of water otherwise we will have to face water scarcity in the coming years. Al-Jazari Academy is training professionals from across Pakistan, so we are covering whole country.”

JICA Chief Adviser Dr Nabuyuki Sato said, “We are determined to help professionals by providing them with some international standard courses and new and hitech teaching methodologies and we have trained about 60 Pakistani professionals in Japan under the same course.”

Al-Jazari Academy is a purpose-built teaching facility for building capacity of individuals and government departments. The academy has foreign qualified faculty with extensive industry experience, engaged specifically by Urban Unit to impart the necessary technical skills and knowledge to programme trainees.

The ceremony was attended by directors, deputy directors and assistant directors of all WASAs in Punjab. Some 300 participants of courses were awarded with certificates in the end of the ceremony.

Published in Daily Times, April 27^th 2018.