FAISALABAD: Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) employees observed a full-day strike on Thursday against the killing of a transport officer of the company, refusing to lift waste from all the major collection points in the city.

Due to the strike, almost all the thoroughfares remained littered with waste causing foul smell and inconvenience to the people.

Masood Ahmed, a transport officer of the FWMC, was gunned down on Wednesday near Babar Sweets on Dijkot Road, allegedly by a former driver of the company.

A murder case has been registered against the suspect and his unidentified accomplice with the Factory Area police on the complaint of Muhammad Arshad, also an employee of the FWMC.

The police said Ahmed had declared the suspect guilty of corruption in an official probe. To take revenge, the suspect shot the officer dead and fled away.

The police said investigation into the murder had been launched and the suspect would be arrested soon.

A protesting company worker said he and his colleagues won’t resume their duties till the arrest of the killer. He said nobody had been given the charge of transport to look after the waste lifting issues.

A company official, however, claimed there was no strike and the workers did not perform their duties as a gesture of grief over the officer’s death.

He said half of the company’s waste-lifting vehicles remained parked as the workers had left to attend the deceased officer’s funeral.

He claimed arrangements had been made to lift the waste from all collection points in the city.

GCWUF: The Government College Women University Faisalabad students on Thursday staged a protest demonstration against the administration for pressing them for taking examinations on the varsity campus instead of conducting the exercise online.

The students started the protest on the varsity campus, but despite the security guards’ attempt to close the main gate, dozens of them managed to gather outside the GCWUF entrance, where they chanted slogans against the administration.

The protesters said they had been summoned by the university administration in connection with their studies and were told to prepare for on-campus exams, despite rising Covid-19 cases in the city.

They said all the students had taken classes online and now the administration started pressing them for taking on-campus exams. They demanded the varsity should make arrangements to conduct the exams online.

They said they would continue their protest till the acceptance of their demand.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2021