KARACHI: The Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh on Thursday expressed displeasure over the repeated absence of the chairman of a Chinese sanitation company working in Karachi and summoned him yet again on Oct 25.

The commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Amir Hani Muslim has been summoning the chairman of the Changyi Kangjie Sanitation Engineering Company for the past many hearings regarding fulfilment of the contract.

In the past, the commission had expressed dissatisfaction over the working of the Chinese firm tasked with disposal of garbage in South and East districts of Karachi and directed the chairman of the company to appear in person after the managing director of Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) submitted a progress report regarding disposal of municipal waste in both districts and non-compliance of the contractor with the terms and conditions under which the contract was awarded to him.

When the matter came up on Thursday, an associate of Advocate Javed Qazi, who is representing the chairman, contended that the chairman needed more time to appear since according to the chairman he was engaged in China in some matters which were not known to his lawyer. Justice Muslim observed that it appeared that the company was testing the patience of the commission.

In these given circumstances, Advocate Qazi, who is out of the country and likely to come back in a day or two, is directed to appear on Oct 25 along with the chairman, failing which consequence will follow, it added.

Conversion of industrial plots

Meanwhile, the commission adjourned a matter regarding conversion of industrial plots into commercial ones within the industrial zones of Karachi as well as in other parts of the province by consent of both sides till Oct 29.

However, it issued notices to the secretaries of education and industries and other respondents for Oct 29 on an application of Advocate Tariq Mansoor.

The applicant contended that the status of a five-acre industrial plot in SITE was illegally converted into commercial in 2010 and a private school was set up on it, maintaining that the school was also adjacent to the sewerage treatment plant (STP-3), risking the health of students.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2018