‘Dump garbage properly or face fine’

LAHORE

City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has allowed Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) to exercise powers of fining citizens involved in making the city dirty and not dumping garbage at the designated places.

Under the solid waste management bylaws, LWMC can take any action against people not maintaining cleanliness in the city but earlier these powers were not used, officials said. They said that according to the powers bestowed upon LWMC by CDGL, violators such as those not maintaining cleanliness on different premises particularly in front of shops, offices, factories up to the public street or road could be fined from Rs 500 to 1,000 by the competent authority. 

They said fine could also be imposed for dumping or placing any refuse, litter or garbage on any street or at any place not provided or designated for the purpose by local government. The amount of fine will range from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 depending on the nature of violation, officials said, adding that the supervisor/in charge/manager of the area concerned would  be empowered to impose fine after his observations and notice.   

Moreover, LWMC Managing Director Bilal Mustafa Syed activated LWMC’s enforcement team and directed them to start fining those citizens found involved in violation of any kind related to the company’s jurisdiction. 

First time, an owner of a construction firm has been fined on account of failure to maintain cleanliness outside his area of work. The vehicles of construction firm situated at Liberty Market, Gulberg, were found causing filth on clean roads of Gulberg by muddy tyres. 

General Manager Operations Asif Iqbal said the enforcement team had fined Rs 1,000 to the owner of the construction company. Enforcement teams will keep on taking notice of such incidents and will take action according to the need to prevent citizens from unnecessarily effecting clean face of the city, he maintained.

Meanwhile, LWMC  MD Bilal Mustafa Syed called an emergency meeting of all field officers and directed them to ensure implementation of sanitation arrangements during monsoon season.

No negligence will be tolerated in respect of workers’ attendance at major choking points across the city, he warned.  He also visited various choking points across the city particularly Do Moriya Pull, Lakshmi Chowk, Samanabad, Ferozepur Road, The Mall and Bhatti Chowk to review sanitation arrangements and attendance of the staff. He assured the field staff that all issues related to field work would be addressed on priority bases, however, they were required to work with enthusiasm to ensure smooth draining of rain water.