Disposal of solid waste in Karachi: Chinese firm’s contract terminated

KARACHI: The Sindh Solid Waste Management Board has terminated the contract of a Chinese firm for collection and disposal of municipal solid waste for District West for its failure to do the job satisfactorily and deteriorating the sanitary condition.

The Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) signed a contract with the Hangzhou Jinjiang Group Sanitation Service for collection and disposal of District West solid waste of on October 11, 2017.

According to the terms of the contract agreement, the contractor had to bring the requisite number of equipment, machinery, vehicles and manpower and develop a Command & Control System for the operations. However, the Waste Management Board charged the Chinese firm of failure to comply with its contractual obligations despite repeated directives and notices, causing misery to the residents.” This deteriorated the sanitation in the district and tainted the board's reputation.

The board issued several show-cause notices to the contractor, which went unnoticed.

The first show-cause notice was issued on December 5, 2018 but the company did not bother to reply reflecting their non serious attitude towards contractual obligations. Considering the seriousness of the matter and in public interest, the matter was taken up by the judicial commission on water issues that was mandated by the Supreme Court.

The company made certain commitments before the judicial commission, but again failed to honour its commitments, charged the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board letter.

Another show-cause notice was served to the company on March 3 over failure of the contractor to perform his legal obligations and those in terms of the orders passed by the judicial commission on December 14, 2018.

The letter said that in response to the show-cause notice, the company i suspended its entire operations and submitted a revised proposal.

The board found the contractor's revised proposal unsatisfactory and unconvincing. The contractor, according to the letter, also admitted its failure to perform its contractual obligations, which tantamounts to its acceptance of its financial and technical incapacity.

With the concurrence of the chairman of the SSWMB, and in terms of the contract and sections of the RFP, the letter cited terminating the Chinese company's contract.

“The financial claims of the contractor and the counter-claims of the board shall be adjudicated by the arbitrator under the Arbitration Act of 1940,” it concluded.