LAHORE: A number of field teams of the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), comprising some 6,000 workers, observed Sunday as a working holiday by launching a‘zero-waste operation’ in the metropolis that has been facing worst-ever sanitation issues since a row erupted between the LWMC and its Turkish contractors.

Since the LWMC has now formally taken over the entire waste collection and disposal operations in the provincial capital from Jan 1, after its repeatedly extended agreements with the foreign contractors ended, it has announced a special incentive for the workers who actively participated in the Sunday’s clean-up operation.

The teams lifted heaps of garbage from various city areas, including Misri Shah, Nicholson Road, Abbott Road, Allama Iqbal Road, Mcleod Road, Fort Road, Ferozepur Road, Gulberg, GT Road, Model Town Link Road, Badami Bagh, Shahdara and Nisbet Road.

“The teams lifted more than 8,000 tons of waste from the city and transferred 6,000 tons of it to temporary collection points. Out of 6,000, more than 2000 tons of waste was transferred to landfill at Lakhudair,” LWMC Managing Director Imran Sultan claimed while talking to Dawn during his visit to various parts of the city on Sunday, adding the company was doing its best to keep the city clean.

“Citizens should also cooperate with us by avoiding to throw waste on roads,” he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for LWMC said: “The citizens can dial LWMC helpline 1139 for registering their waste-related complaints.”

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2021