When the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) was established five years ago, there was a plan to impose cleanliness tax on the people during the next couple of years to make the company sustainable. But it seems the government is not interested in introducing it for now.

The LWMC was established under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance by the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) after its Solid Waste Management (SWM) wing failed to deliver. Under an agreement, the CDGL formally merged its SWM wing into LWMC a couple of years ago by handing over all of its human, financial and technical resources, including about 8,500 sanitary workers and several equipments, to improve cleanliness up to required standards.

Officials claim there was a plan and a summary sent to the CDGL and the Punjab government for imposition of cleanliness tax, but the quarters concerned are of the view that its approval at this moment would not be wise.

“As far as I know, the government has put the summary on hold. Though we have not been informed formally, but so far it seems the government is not interested in getting the taxation plan implemented,” says a senior official.

The LWMC operates across the city, covering 138 of the total 150 union councils (UCs) through Turkish contractors. In 11 UCs, the company operates directly, while one (Model Town) is being covered by the town’s cooperative society management. Similarly, private housing societies or those falling in cantonment or Defence jurisdictions do not fall under the LWMC territorial limits and are managed by their respective managements. To meet at least the operational cost, the company is also dependent on the government for annual funds or a subsidy.

The official said the summary carried various recommendations about imposition of the cleanliness tax on houses sized five marlas and more, commercial areas (shops, business outlets, offices) and the industrial sector such as factories, mills to meet the operational cost of the company following international sustainable models of such firms. He added that the LWMC management will look at the recommendations as soon as it receives them.

Talking about the areas (such as northern parts of the city), the official said though the company is covering all of them, but it continued facing hurdles.

“It looks like a problem of culture the people are living in. They don’t follow instructions related to cleanliness such as putting their domestic waste into small containers placed by the company. Similarly, in unplanned localities, narrow streets and intersections are a major hurdle in the way of LWMC’s smooth cleanliness activities, as company-owned equipments are unable to enter these areas,” he explained.

He said the situation in the city’s southern areas was much better, as they were well-planned and easy to be cleaned. A majority of people living there are educated and aware of their civic duties and rights.

The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has prepared a plan to ensure uninterrupted supply of drinking water to people during loadshedding in summer.

According to officials, Wasa’s divisions and sub-divisions, under the plan, will be liable to operate all those tubewells that had a generator facility round the clock with a break of three to four hours for the machinery.

“Similarly, the tubewells with no generator facility will continue to be operational all the time during non-loadshedding hours. And during loadshedding, the operational staff will be liable to provide water to problematic areas through water tankers,” an official explained.

He said Wasa’s helpline staff had also been asked to immediately respond to public complaints related to water shortage by conveying them to the departments concerned for prompt action. — khalidpak284@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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