Sindh govt, Turkish firm to work together for integrated solid waste management in Karachi

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that he is keen to introduce integrated solid waste management in Karachi under which collection, segregation, transfer of trash to the garbage transfer stations, its treatment and then dumping at the landfill sites will be carried out.

This he said on Monday while presiding over a joint meeting of Turkish company OZPAK J.V (A Clean World) led by its chairman, Abdul Kadir Turan, and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Authority (SSWMA).

The other members of the delegation were Omer Agriman, Nizamettein Kocamese, Kerim Esen, Faik Kucukayazici, Syed Afzal Shah and Ahsan Javed. The chief minister was assisted by Minister for Labour Saeed Ghani, Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, Minister for Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Adviser Murtaza Wahab, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi, Special Secretary LG Ishaq Mahar, MD SSWMA Asif Ikram and MD PPP Unit Khalid Shaikh.

Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Shah said that the Turkish company was working for cleanliness work in Lahore. He added that the company was interested to work with the Sindh government in cleanliness work in Karachi.

The chief minister said that he had a plan to develop integrated solid waste management. “I mean the company responsible for the cleanliness work should collect trash door-to-door, then transfer it to the GTS where they segregate the trash such as municipal waste, hospital and industrial waste and utilise the reusable waste for power or gas generation and production of fertiliser and set on fire the remaining trash at the landfill site in an environment-friendly manner,” he said.

Shah said that his government was ready to allocate six most modern garbage transfer stations on a public-private partnership basis, if any company was interested; otherwise, the provincial government would develop them from its own resources.

The company told the chief minister that they were doing a good job in Lahore and the beautiful city of Karachi would give a different look when they started their work there. At this, the chief minister said that he was ready to allocate them two districts for garbage-lifting, but for the purpose they would have to participate in the bidding process or file their unsolicited proposal.

The Turkish company said that they were ready to work with the Sindh government on the public-private partnership mode. The chief minister called his PPP Unit MD Khalid Shaikh and directed him to hold a meeting with the Turkish company.

The PPP Unit chief briefed the Turkish company delegation about the PPP mode and the government support. He gave them details of the projects ready for launching on the PPP mode, including cleanliness work in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Larkana divisions.

The delegation said they would study the PPP Unit papers and incentives and concession agreements offered by the provincial government and would come back again within 30 days. On the directive of the chief minister, Minister for Local Government Nasir Shah and MD SSWMA Asif Ikram also held another meeting with the visiting Turkish team. They agreed to work together on Karachi in integrated solid waste management as envisaged by the chief minister.

They said that the company would discuss the proposals in their board and would come back with their proposals. However, they said they would participate in the cleanliness of the two or three districts of the city.