July 30, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 29: The Rs1 billion Japan-funded project for the safe disposal of waste in the federal capital has yet to materialize, sources told Dawn here on Monday.

The PC-I of the proposed site was completed in 1997. The project would be completed in two phases within one year under the Social Action Programme (SAP).

The sources said the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had acquired around 100 acres for the Land Fill Project near Kuri Road on the outskirts of the federal city.

Currently, the sanitation directorate of the Authority is disposing of the waste at an open dumping site in H-11 sector, which was posing a serious threat to the health of the residents.

Under this project, technical experts would be invited from Japan to train the CDA engineers besides hiring modern technology, they said. The Government of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are showing keen interest in the establishment of a land fill site to control the growing environmental pollution in Islamabad, the sources maintained.

The sources said the paperwork on the proposed project was initiated in 1996 with the financial assistance of JICA, which released nearly $300 million for various projects under the Social Action Programme.

The Government of Japan had agreed to meet 85 per cent of the total cost of the project, while the Government of Pakistan had committed the remaining 15 per cent cost, the sources said.

Under the project, ventilation units would also be installed to stop spread of Methane and Dioxin gases. The Japanese experts would design the project within the available resources, the source said, adding that the Government of Japan had been apprising Pakistan authorities of the hazardous effects of open dumping sites.

The sources told this correspondent that the Authority was facing acute shortage of latest sanitation equipment, as the government had linked the purchase of such equipment with the Land Fill Site project. Half of the garbage trucks, excavators and dumper trucks are outdated and not functional, they added.