‘Sanitation market promises business opportunities to private sector’

Islamabad : Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on Thursday said sanitation market was going to provide new business opportunities to private sector as safely managed sanitation has become a critical issue in Pakistan.

He said this at the concluding ceremony of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s Sanitation Market Shaping Workshop to explore effective engagement of private sector in this regard and key challenges to be faced for involving the sector to investing in sanitation.

He said the workshop had focused on the critical issue of waste generation and liquid waste treatment as 90 per cent liquid waste in our country was dumped untreated into the water courses.

Moreover, 80 per cent of solid waste was not being collected from dumping spots and 40 per cent of the country's population had no access to safely managed lavatories, he added.

The adviser said Prime Minister Imran Khan's Clean Green Pakistan Movement had become a trigger to make solid and liquid waste management, cleanliness and sanitation issues to be resolved in a befitting way with massive stakeholder engagement.

"Clean Green Index is going to be launched in October after the prime minister's visit to United States to attend United Nations Security General meeting. There are 35 quantifiable indicators, in the index, based on the five pillars of Clean Green Pakistan Movement including tree plantation, solid waste management, liquid waste management, total sanitation or toilets and safe drinking water," he added.

Amin said under the Clean Green Index a healthy competition among 20 cities governments would be held to bring behavioural change for clean green Pakistan.

He added that solid, liquid waste management and treatment had become a lucrative business around the world.

However, keeping in view the volume of waste generated in the country it was a business opportunity for the private sector to chip in.

The adviser informed that it was the one component out of the five under clean green index whereas, in the rest, 10 billion Tree Tsunami project had got the funding with seven sub-plans to implement the project across the country.

"Electric Vehicle has been prepared and sent to the Federal cabinet for approval. It would open new era of transport in the country. The plastic bags ban is under implementation where the ministry will develop the lessons learnt from this experience and in the next phase it would be implemented in the provinces," he said.

The adviser also made his commitment to ensure government support and guarantee to private sector, civil society organisations and other stakeholders venturing in the sanitation market.