June 14, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

KARACHI, June 13: The city government would launch a new solid waste management system in the next couple of months under which citizens would be charged certain fee for collection of garbage from their doorsteps and other municipal services.

This was disclosed at a multi-stakeholder workshop on “Solid Waste Management Sector Roadmap,” organised by the city government in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank here on Wednesday.

Addressing the workshop, Sindh Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad said that the basic reason behind failure of providing proper civic services was lack of sincere, dedicated and targeted approach by the authorities and other stakeholders rather than lack of financial resources.

He urged the city government and the ADB to concentrate on short-term result-oriented programmes. He said common man must not be burdened with ‘high fees’ for solid waste collection. With appropriate budget analysis, many other sources for revenue generation such as recycling and cutting down corruption must be ensured on the management level to benefit citizens, he added.

Mr Ahmad emphasised that the city government in collaboration with the ADB and other stakeholders must devise pragmatic approach for solid waste management. He said the present city government had record available funds and better opportunities to provide civic facilities at the doorsteps of citizens.

The minister deplored lack of coordination regarding solid waste management among different authorities such as the six cantonment boards, Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan Railways and other stakeholders in the city.

The workshop raised issues related to the solid waste management such as illegal dumping sites near residential areas, toxic solid and liquid waste generated by cottage and large-scale industry, toxic hospital waste, nuclear waste by the KANUP, slaughter houses, chemical and energy content of the waste, sorting out recyclable waste at primary level and other environmental hazards related to industrial waste.

Earlier, Karachi Mega City Sustainable Development Project Director Muhammad Zakir highlighted various aspects of the Solid Waste Management Sector Roadmap. He assured technical and financial support to the city government in this regard.

He said Rs799.84 million would be given to the city government in terms of technical assistance loan, which would include Rs310.44 million for capacity building, Rs200.28 million for project preparation, Rs239.14 million for project implementation and Rs49.98 million for establishment of specialised financing vehicle.

Giving details of the Solid Waste Management Sector Roadmap, KMCD Project Coordinator Roshan Ali Shaikh said the roadmap was aimed at achieving cent per cent targets of waste reduction, recycling, collection, transfer, disposal and hazardous waste management by the year 2020.

Besides upgrading Jam Chakro and Gond Pass landfill sites, he said two new landfill sites – one at Razakabad and another along the Northern Bypass – would be set up in the next few years in a manner that no birds would fly around their to harm aircraft.

He said citizens would have to pay certain affordable fee for solid waste collection. He said the present municipal service delivery was too weak and the national regulatory framework did not function adequately.

Mr Shaikh said human resources and capacities of solid waste collecting institutions would be enhanced by improving primary waste collection, optimizing private sector involvement and engaging public.

He said two insulators owned by the city government were not able to properly dispose of the hospital waste. As part of the roadmap, he said both would be upgraded.

EDO Municipal Services Masood Alam said the city nazim had announced that citizens would not be charged until they saw positive change in their localities regarding solid waste management.

During the question and answer session, Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi, Secretary-General Dr Qaisar Sajjad said that hazardous waste of around 350 private hospitals were being dumped in residential areas and illegal dumping sites.—PPI

While all the plans sounded good in theory, the city government was at loss when asked what the cost of such a project would be, adds Samina Wahid Perozani.

After considerable probing on part of one of the participants during the question and answer session, the city government revealed that such a project would probably cost around Rs3.6 billion, which meant that citizens would have to pay about $24-25 per month, a figure that is far too high for most middle class households in the city. Even so, the city government seemed hopeful that Karachites would appreciate the project more once it was implemented properly.