LHC issues notice to LWMC on Albayrak’s plea for refund of security amount

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has issued a notice to the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) on a petition of its former Turkish contract, Albayrak, for the refund of its security amount.

The contractor through its counsel contended that the LWMC refused further contract to the contractor for lifting waste and also withheld the security it had deposited at the time of the award of the contract. It requested the court to order the respondent to reimburse the security deposit of the petitioner according to the contract.

Justice Ayesha A Malik sought a reply from the LWMC till March 17. Meanwhile, the judge would take up on Wednesday (today) a petition questioning the failure of the LWMC to lift waste in Lahore.

A citizen, Usman Khan, filed the petition through Advocate Sheraz Zaka saying the City had become the second most polluted city of the world due to air pollution and garbage lying in the open areas.

He said the LWMC and other authorities failed to perform their statutory obligations. The petitioner submits that the current status of the increased air pollution warrants the need to raise a red flag. He stated that the issue of pollution had been further exacerbated by burning of waste and heaps of garbage lying in almost all parts of the City, including Faisal Town, Allama Iqbal Town, Gulberg and Samanabad. The petitioner requested the court to seek an explanation from the government as to what measures had been taken to mitigate smog and collection of garbage to clean Lahore city.