ATTOCK, Aug 28: The Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has yet to display its list of sanitation staff and their corresponding working fields, a full year after being directed to do so for public monitoring purposes.

The directive was issued to avoid their illegal labour at the private houses of government officials.

The District Coordination Officer (DCO) Shakeel Ahmed had directed the TMA in a meeting in September 2011 to display a list of sanitation staff with their complete names and their respective working areas for public and media monitoring.

The district administration would also conduct surprise inspection of the TMA sanitation staff to avoid any complaints of illegal work at private houses, the DCO had added at the time. Among other officials, the Executive District Officer Health Dr Musarrat Hussain was also present.

The DCO had issued the directives after the local newsmen highlighted public complaints about the sanitation workers who were forced to work at private houses belonging to government officials and ruling political figures instead of performing their duties at residential and other public areas.

This trend has markedly affected sanitation activities, and could lead to pollution and the spread of some viral diseases, particularly dengue fever.

The Punjab government has already issued strict instructions to municipal administrations to ensure the presence of sanitation staff at their respective assigned areas to guarantee proper cleanliness.

Surprisingly, the DCO’s directive regarding the list of sanitation staff has not yet materialised despite the passage of a year, and the fact that the threat of dengue fever requires the sanitation staff’s maximum presence.  When contacted, the TMA administration ascertained that they are compiling the required details as per the DCO’s directive, and the list would soon be displayed.

ANTI-DENGUE DRIVE: The district administration has claimed that it has adopted special measures to combat the threat of dengue fever.

DCO Attock Shakeel Ahmed, in a press release,  directed assistant commissioners and Tehsil Municipal officers of all six tehsils in the district to personally supervise anti-dengue drives in their respective tehsils.

Under the directive, administration and health department officials are to fumigate all open areas, particularly service stations, tyre shops and areas of stagnant water to avoid the outbreak of dengue fever.

Moreover, special counters have been set up at the district headquarters and all tehsil headquarters hospitals for the diagnoses of any suspected dengue fever patient.