Baqar warns of action if children found involved in trash collection

Sindh Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has warned the officials of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) of strict action if it was found that the provincial trash disposal agency or its contractors were engaged in child labour.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister House on Wednesday said the interim CM had taken cognisance of the reported instances of child labour in the waste collection affairs in Karachi.

The statement said the caretaker CM had received reports that the labour laws of the land were being violated in the waste collection services of the SSWMB.

Justice (retd) Baqar asked the local government secretary to inquire into the allegations of use of child labour by the SSWMB for the provision of its services in the city.

The interim CM had received reports that some of the sanitary staffers employed by the SSWMB were 12 years old or even younger.

He said the SSWMB or its contractors should not have used underage labourers in the city for waste collection, disposal and cleanliness work.

It is worth mentioning here that the Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children Act 2017 in its section three declared unlawful employment of any child who hasn’t attained the age of 14.

The section three of the same law says that no adolescent (a child between 14 years and 18 years) shall be employed or permitted to work in any hazardous work.

The act further says: “Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under section 3, commits a like offence afterwards, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to 15 years”.