Garbage from Lahore to be cleared in a week: Firdous

LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Minister Raja Yasir Humayun said Saturday that backlog of waste from the provincial metropolis will be cleared in a week.

Addressing a press conference along with SACM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, he said hired machinery would be utilised for clearing the waste backlog. He said an agreement was signed with foreign companies regarding cleanliness of Lahore, under which companies were bound to handover machinery to the government after completion of the agreement.

He said on last moment some changes were made in the agreement; however, the NAB was looking into the matter. He said dispute was created over machinery due to which problems were arising. The minister lauded the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) for clearing the garbage heap near Arfa Karim Tower. He said at a cost of Rs4 billion, 915 new vehicles would be procured and the procurement process would be completed in six months. Raja Yasir Humayun said the procurement of new vehicles would prove to be long-term solution to manage waste of the city in a proper way. Regarding private housing schemes, he said housing schemes were responsible to manage their waste on their own but they dump their waste at dumping sites of LWMC.

He said a project could have been started to turn waste into energy but previous government did nothing in this regard. He further said 6000 containers, uniform and safety gear for staff were being purchased, whereas, vigilance department had also been created.

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the agreement with the foreign companies was signed in dollars and whenever the value of dollar increased it put burden on the national exchequer. She said Lahore waste could be utilised for meeting the electricity needs of the metropolis. She said the incumbent government had taken the responsibility of cleaning Lahore with local management, local machinery and local currency.