GUJRAT: The local administration has requested the Punjab Local Government Department to take necessary measures for the revival of the Gujrat Waste Management Company (GtWMC) that has been rendered dysfunctional for the around 18 months.

Official sources say that Gujrat Deputy Commissioner Safdar Virk has recently written a formal letter to the secretary of local government and community development department, stressing the need to make the company fully functional for the resolution of crucial civic issue of the city.

The DC has also recommended the names of at least seven persons, mostly belonging to the ruling coalition partner PML-Q in Punjab, for their appointment as members of theGtWMC Board of Director (BoD).

As per the official letter, the name of Gujrat city PML-Q President Ali Abrar Jaura has been recommended as chairman of the GtWMC, whereas the names of Kharian-based woman MPA of PML-Q Ms Tashfeen Safdar Marala, two former union council chairmen from the city, Raja Sikandar and Zafar Iqbal Rehmani, industrialist Taimoor Rafique, Ekaz Zia and Shahzad Sarwar have also been recommended for the directors slot in the company.

Though the name of MPA Ms Marala, who was elected on a reserved seat for women, is included in the proposed list, official sources say that the company’s scope of work was limited only to Gujrat city’s areas included in the Metropolitan Corporation (MC) limits. The BoD may consist of 11 members, who would be notified by local government department secretary, who is the competent authority.

The Gujrat MC has been unable to handle the city’s solid waste issue due to the limited resources, including machinery and sanitary staff, for long whereas the city’s growing population has been a major challenge for the civic agency due to the expansion of the city and unplanned urbanisation.

The recent rains have once again badly exposed the MC’s poor performance.

Punjab’s former chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi had notified the establishment of GtWMC for his home town in his second tenure by the end of 2022, allocatingRs1.5 billion in the budget as a one-time expenditure to be incurred on the company’s establishment.

Out of the allocated sum, initially an amount of Rs500 million was transferred to the official account of the company in Gujrat.

The company had also advertised at least 300 vacancies, but the recruitment could not be made so far as the company’s further formation was halted after the Punjab Assembly was dissolved in January 2023.

The concerned citizens of Gujrat have urged the Punjab government to relaunch the process of making GtWMC fully functional.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2024