Interim CM wants city’s 1,200 idle sweepers put to work

Sindh caretaker chief minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar on Monday directed the provincial local government department to put to work the approximately 1,200 sweepers available with the now-defunct district municipal corporations (DMCs).

Baqar observed that these sanitary workers have no duties to perform because the rubbish disposal duties in the city have been passed from the DMCs onto the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB).

In a meeting of the SSWMB he chaired at the CM House, the province’s interim chief executive directed the LG secretary to put the idle sweepers to work because nobody can be paid salary from the public exchequer without them providing a service.

He also asked the officials concerned to ensure the renovation, maintenance and beautification of all historical buildings in the city. He stressed that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation should issue the relevant notices to the occupants of all such buildings.

He also directed Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab to launch a sanitation drive in the city. “I want to see the city neat and clean, with plants and trees promoting greenery.” He then told the SSWMB managing director to submit the inspection reports on waste collection and disposal work in the city to the CM’s Secretariat.

Baqar was informed that the 1128 helpline is functioning to receive complaints about the lack of sanitation work in the city. He was also informed that the area beneath the Nipa flyover, which was earlier covered with waste, was cleared recently.