LAHORE: The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) removed 6,500 tons of the 12,500 tons of waste backlog till Saturday after the Turkish contractors’ workers (driver and helper category) resumed their duty after receipt of salaries for the month of January.

Up to 1,600 drivers and helpers of several waste lifting vehicles started observing strike after their contractors could not give them salary on time for the month of January due to non-receipt of their quarterly bills’ payment from the Punjab government through the LWMC.

“Workers normally receive their salary by 5th of each month but their salary for the month of January delayed a lot after the cheque issued by the Finance Department bounced for three times,” an official source in the LWMC told Dawn on Saturday.

“First the cheque was bounced as the amount filled in words and letters was not matching. A new cheque was made that was too not accepted by the bank as the amount mentioned was not in millions but in crores, lakhs etc. So the third cheque was made and presented which was also rejected due to some similar mistakes.”

Finally, the cheque was cleared in the last week of February and then the salary was release to workers on March 1. On March 2, workers resumed their duty, he added.

According to a press release, the company would continue to conduct special cleanliness operation in the city on Sunday so as to lift and dump the remaining waste.

“Various places of the city were affected due to protest of the workers. So in order to clear waste backlog in the city, the company has lifted 6,500 tons of the total 12,500 tons waste on priority basis,” reads a press release issued by a spokesman for the company.

He said the company in two days, the company expected to lift and dump the remaining 6,000 tons of waste.

“Out of 550 selected points, more than 220 have been cleared and on remaining 330 would be cleared within next two days,” he added.

He said more than 8,000 sanitary workers and more than 500 operational vehicles were engaged in the field for cleanliness operation.

SHIFTING: The City Administration on Monday completed demarcation of a chunk of land near Saggian for shifting of Rim and Fish markets here from the city areas, according to a spokesman.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2019