RAWALPINDI: Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan will formally outsource sanitation work in his constituency to Turkish Company, Al-Burak, on Saturday.

Though the work in six union councils of PP-6, located adjacent to Islamabad airport, was handed over to the Turkish company in December 2014 but formal inauguration will be held on Saturday.

The Punjab government outsourced the work of collecting solid waste from houses and gave Rs8 billion contract to Turkish company, which would remain valid for seven years.

As per agreement, the company had to take over the garbage collection work from Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) within a year. However, due to slow pace of work, the handing over and taking over of sanitation work was restricted to the NA-52, the constituency of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

As many as 46 union councils of Rawal Town from Marrir Chowk to Raja Bazaar and from Pirwadhai to Murree Road are still being managed by RWMC.

However, the government kept silent over the handing over of sanitation work in five tehsils of the district because under the agreement, the company had to start the work in all the seven tehsils of the district including Rawalpindi, Gujar Khan, Taxila, Murree, Kahuta, Kotli Sattian and Kalar Syedan.

When contacted, RWMC Board of Management Chairman MPA Raja Abdul Hanif Advocate said the outsourcing of sanitation work would complete by end of May.

He said that Turkish company was doing work in 15 union councils including Murree and it would start the work in the remaining 46 union councils by end of May.

He said all workers and machinery would be handed over to Turkish company and RWMC would monitor its work.

MPA Raja Abdul Hanif Advocate said that Rs1.25 billion per year would be paid to Turkish company for collection of garbage and clearing small drains in the city.

To a question, he said the government would not impose any tax on the citizens for collection of garbage.

“In Lahore, no tax was imposed. There was rumors in the city that the government will collect the tax through Wasa or tax branch but there is no truth in this regard,” he said.

“The inauguration ceremony was to be held in December but Army Public School Tragedy forced the government to postpone it,” he said.

Published in Dawn February 14th , 2015

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