Institute of Business Management

Environmental & Social Review Summary

This Environmental and Social Review Summary is prepared and distributed in advance of the IFC Board of Directors’ consideration of the proposed transaction. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities, and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board of Director’s decision. Board dates are estimates only.
Any documentation which is attached to this Environmental and Social Review Summary has been prepared by the project sponsor and authorization has been given for public release. IFC has reviewed this documentation and considers that it is of adequate quality to be released to the public but does not endorse the content.

Project number	24640
Country	Pakistan
Sector	Education Services
Department	Health and Education
Company name	Institute of Business Management
Environmental category	B
Status	Active

Date ESRS disclosed	May 31, 2006

Previous Events	Signed: December 19, 2006 Approved: September 12, 2006

View Summary of Proposed Investment (SPI), click here

Overview

Category & Applicable Standards

Key Issues & Mitigation

Community Engagements

Client's Documentation

Overview of IFC's scope of review

The review of this project consisted of appraising technical and environmental/social information submitted by IOBM and a site visit to the existing campus in Karachi. In addition, the following documents were reviewed:

- Site layout plan for the new campus;
- Environmental management program for the existing campus; and
- Proposed energy efficiency options for power plant(s) at new campus.

The appraisal team interviewed the following during the appraisal visit:

- Mr. Syed Ahsan Ali, Manager Engineering;
- Mr. M. W. Jahangir, Senior Manager, Internal Audit and Corporate Affairs;
- Mr. Talib S. Karim, Director, Academics and Business Support Center; and
- Ms. Naz A. Soomro, Controller of Examinations and Executive in Charge, SAC.

Project description

The Institute of Business Management (IOBM) is a premier private sector institution catering to the collegiate and pre-collegiate market in Karachi, Pakistan. The Institute is undertaking an investment program to increase its present enrollment capacity from 3,000 to 5,400 students including about 800 school students, and provide support services to students as well as faculty members. More specifically, the project consists of:

- the acquisition of up to 10 acres of land;
- construction of a new college building for holding of classes;
- construction of 50 apartments for faculty/staff members;
- construction of a 1,200 seat auditorium; and
- completion of on-going expansion activities.

IOBM is looking at becoming a center of excellence in its disciplines. The project will allow it to build on its continuous growth. The availability of residential facilities at the Institute will help attract and retain quality teaching faculty and at the same time increase space and services for visiting international faculty members. The proposed auditorium will be used by the Institute and other organizations to hold seminars and conferences.

Key environmental and social issues and mitigation

The Sponsor has presented plans to address these impacts to ensure that the proposed project will, upon implementation of the specific agreed measures, comply with the host country laws and regulations and the World Bank/IFC (WBG) environment and social policies and the environmental, health and safety guidelines. The information about how these potential impacts will be addressed by the Sponsor is summarized in the paragraphs that follow and in the attached Environmental and Social Action Plan.

- Site selection, acquisition, development and permitting

The IOBM campus is located in a peri-urban part of greater Karachi that is developing rapidly. The Karachi City Government has developed a master plan for the development of the city, including these areas of expansion. IOBM acquired all of the land for its present 9-acre campus from private owners on a willing buyer-willing seller basis. The additional 5-10 acres of land to be acquired for the project will be obtained on a similar basis, and documentation of the broad terms of the land sales agreement will be provided to IFC. All land sales in this part of Karachi must obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the provincial government. Construction plans for the expansion also must obtain approval of municipal authorities. The expansion plans are at an initial stage and dependent on the acquisition of land. Approval of the municipal authorities and other regulatory bodies will be obtained and copies provided to IFC after the acquisition of land is completed and expansion plans finalized. Although not under national or local regulations required to complete an Environmental Impact Assessment, IOBM has retained third party consultants to develop energy efficiency, waste water treatment and fire safety programs for both the existing campus and proposed expansion. IOBM has taken the lead in vegetating what is a fairly barren area, planting trees both on its own property and in the verge between its boundary and a municipal effluent drain, which runs parallel to the campus about 20 meters from IOBM’s boundary wall. Intended for storm water drainage and tidal control purposes, it is used by many industries in the area, including chemical plants and tanneries, as an effluent drain flowing to the sea. In conjunction with IUCN and the Sindh provincial Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), IOBM has undertaken a tree planting effort, both on its own property and in the verge outside its boundary that runs along the drain, to reduce the odor that comes from the drain.

- Quality and sustainability of potable water supply

The water requirement for the existing campus is 15,000 gallons (56,800 liters) per day, obtained from a combination of municipal supplies and private sources. Total requirement post-expansion is expected to be approximately 45,000 gallons (170,400 liters)/day. IOBM receives treated water of potable quality from the Karachi Water Board.

- Handling and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes

IOBM has a chemistry laboratory for its grade 11 and 12 students. The laboratory uses small amounts of solvents, acids and other chemicals. Chemicals are stored in locked and temperature controlled rooms and their use and handling is carefully monitored by the head of the Chemistry Department. Small amounts of dilute chemicals used in classroom experiments are discharged to the domestic waste water system. IOBM will undertake testing for residual amounts of these chemicals to ensure that levels conform to host country and WBG group limits and provide these results to IFC within an agreed timeframe. All solid wastes (paper, plastics, cardboard, used oil and lubricants) are sold to vendors for recycling. Used oil is used by the cement industry as a fuel supplement.

- Liquid effluent management

As described above, effluents comprise only domestic waste water and small amounts of dilute chemicals from the chemistry laboratory. IOBM has installed a waste water treatment tower that treats to a standard that enables reuse of domestic waste water and grey water for irrigation purposes. A new treatment tower has been planned to handle the expanded amount of domestic waste water that will be generated after the expansion. IOBM also will confirm in writing that the proposed design for the expanded wastewater treatment plant will be able to ensure that treated wastewater will continue to meet these limits after the expansion is complete. As is presently done, treated waste water will be used for irrigation purposes on lawns and gardens on the campus.

- Air emissions

IOBM has installed a system of several small diesel generators to supply its entire power supply. The facility currently utilizes eight small diesel generators in two powerhouses located across the campus. Currently these generators provide a total of 1.8 MWh of electricity. After the expansion, the power plant will comprise a total of 2.6 MWh. The largest portion of the power demand is the air conditioning load, which comprises approximately 65% of the total load demand. As part of the expansion, IOBM hired a third party consultant to assess options for rationalizing its power supply system. On the basis of the consultant’s recommendations, IOBM intends to relocate all generators to one location, which will improve efficiency. In addition, IOBM is currently assessing a number of clean energy/energy efficiency options, including the use of natural gas to run the air conditioning system, and the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to replace up to 60% of diesel fuel used in generators. Either of these options would result in a net improvement in IOBM’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as lowering total energy costs.

Occupational health, safety and hygiene: Employee health and safety conditions at the existing facility are very good. Maintenance staff receive induction training on basic health, safety and housekeeping procedures. IOBM provides medical care to all staff, including routine inoculations and prescription medicines. Subsidized meals are provided to all employees in the student and faculty cafeterias. IOBM has designated the entire campus as a “no smoking” area, for both health and fire safety reasons. On the basis of the site visit undertaken, it appears that housekeeping and hygiene at the existing facility are similarly well managed.

- Workplace conditions and employee training programs during construction operations

All construction activities are undertaken by a private contractor. On the basis of observations made during the IFC site visit, occupational health, safety (OHS) and training for contractor personnel needs to be improved. Personal protective equipment for workers appears either not to be provided or its use not routinely enforced. Enforcement of safe working practices, such as use of safety harnesses when working at heights, similarly requires improvement. Within a timeframe to be agreed with IFC, IOBM will provide written documentation that it has included all relevant occupational safety and health requirements in its tender documents and standard operating procedures for construction contractors to ensure conformance with IFC’s Occupational Health and Safety guidelines.

- Life and fire safety in the design, construction and outfitting of new and existing facilities

The existing campus was designed to meet UK life and fire safety standards. All buildings are equipped with fire extinguishers (foam and CO2), fire blankets, smoke detectors and fire rated doors. The expansion design includes a plan for a fire ring and mains with connectable hoses, as well as a dedicated water supply for fire emergency use. The existing facility has 10 apartments for faculty/staff at the current facility, and expects to have a total of 50 apartments when the expansion is complete. All apartments are equipped with smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. The final design for residential facilities will be submitted to IFC for review of life and fire safety aspects, to ensure conformance to internationally accepted standards. Maintenance staff are trained in the use of all fire fighting equipment, and drills of simulated fire and other emergencies are held periodically. Security at the campus is a high priority. IOBM hires its own security staff rather than contract with a third party to provide this service. The reasons for this are to:

- ensure that security guards get to know the student body,
- reduce the sense of an academic institution having the feeling of being a “high security” facility, and
- prevent there being any mistaken identification of a student as a security threat.

- Systematic management of quality, environmental issues, and occupational health and safety

As noted above, IOBM has initiated a number of environmental management and improvement projects, especially in the areas of energy efficiency and greenbelt development. These initiatives are not at present part of an overall social, environmental, and health and safety (SEHS) management system, however. IOBM management recognizes the need to establish such a system, and has committed to developing a SEHS management system using in-house resources, supplemented by input from third party consultants on certain issues. Receipt of a draft SEHS management system acceptable to IFC will be covenanted as a condition of first disbursement.

- Corporate social responsibility efforts, including HIV/AIDS awareness

IOBM views its corporate citizenship role as a fundamental part of its operations. The institution will develop a strategic plan to identify appropriate and effective means for supporting community initiatives in its areas of influence. IFC will provide details on its IFC Against AIDS for possible dissemination among its students, staff and other stakeholder groups.

- Timely reporting on environmental and social performance to IFC

IOBM will, in a format to be agreed with IFC, submit Annual Environmental and Social Monitoring Reports (AMRs) timely within 90 days of the end of its financial year.

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