Sindh, WB to launch $200m project to dispose of Karachi’s waste

The Sindh government and the World Bank have agreed to launch a $200 million Solid Waste Emergency and Efficiency Project (SWEEP) to remove waste from streets and drainage channels in Karachi.

This decision was taken at a meeting between Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and a World Bank delegation led by Catalina Marulanda, practice manager-South Asia, Urban, at the CM House on Tuesday.

The other delegation members were Lixin Gu, program leader, Sustainable Development, and Suhaib Rasheed, urban specialist. The chief minister was assited by Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, Chairperson P&D Nahid Shah, Principal Secretary to CM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary of Local Government Roshan Shaikh, Sindh Solid Waste Management Authority (SSWMA) MD Asif Ikram, PD Competitive and Livable City of Karachi (CLICK) Zubair Channa.

The chief Minister said an ADP scheme of 1.6 billion had been launched to improve the system of solid waste management disposal in the city, but “we are keen to do this on a scientific manner and convert waste into energy”.

The World Bank has offered a $200 million SWEEP scheme to improve collection and removal of waste from streets, drainage channels and nullahs. Under the plan, garbage transfer stations will be set up in every district and disposed of at a landsite, which will be developed as a waste-to-energy project.

The chief minister said that the city of Karachi was most beautiful, but the issue of proper cleanliness had destroyed its beauty. “I am keen to make it one of the cleanest cities of Pakistan,” he said.

He constituted a committee under Chairperson P&D Naheed Shah and other members include the secretary of local government and SSWMA managing director as its members. They would discuss modalities of the project so that approval could be given by the chief minister.