LHC allows Turkish company to work

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday directed the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) to let the Turkish contractors –Albayrak and Ozpak -work till expiry of their contracts on Dec 31 and amicably resolve the matter relating to the machinery.

Justice Shahid Karim issued the direction disposing of the petition filed by the Turkish contractors pleading that the LWMC illegally took over the machinery, other material including the vehicles.

On the previous hearing, the judge had restrained the LWMC from using the equipment of the petitioners.

A lawyer of contractors said the LWMC in connivance with the local police forcefully and illegally occupied the whole machinery and vehicles of the contractor/petitioner before the expiry of the contract.

He said the respondents had no authority to take over the machinery and other infrastructure of the petitioner. The counsel said the police also manhandled the employees of the petitioner/company and removed the Turkish staff from the workshops.

He asked the court to declare the impugned act of the LWMC and other respondents as illegal and order them to return the illegally possessed machinery to the petitioner. During Tuesday’s hearing, Justice Karim observed that the foreign investors should be dealt with compassion.

LWMC’s counsel Awais Khalid said the Turkish companies violated the contracts and had refused to lift waste from the city after Dec 10. He said the machinery of the contractors, as per the contract, would be taken over by the LWMC after Dec 31. The judge disposed of the petitions and directed the LWMC to resolve the issue amicably keeping in view the image of the country.