ISLAMABAD:The Japanese government has announced a $4.7 million grant for the procurement of special garbage disposal vehicles for the Municipal Corporation Islamabad (MCI) in order to improve the sanitation conditions and beautification of the federal capital.

The grant will assist in enabling procurement of special vehicles from Japan, including the garbage compactor, skip lifting vehicle and the jet sewer suction machine for MCI. It is expected that solid waste management index - one of the five indexes of ‘Clean Green Pakistan’ advocated by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration - will be improved with the help of these vehicles.

An agreement for the provision of the grant was signed on Tuesday between the Japanese embassy and Economic Affairs Division (EAD). Ambassador Kuninori Matsuda and EAD Secretary Noor Ahmad signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments.

Keeping the environment clean is an essential element for people to be free from infectious diseases, Ambassador Matsuda said, adding schoolchildren in Japan clean their classrooms by themselves every day and each family separates recyclables from the rest.

He said that local governments collect garbage at a fixed time on a fixed day and the accumulation of little effort from people and the government helps keep the environment clean. “I firmly believe that the combination of personal hygiene including washing hands with clean water and improving public health leads to the prevention of infectious diseases,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2020