ISLAMABAD: After cancelling tenders several times, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has once again decided to outsource cleanliness and garbage collection as bids of companies are being evaluated.

In response to CDA’s latest tender, three joint ventures (JVs) submitted their bids for multibillion mega projects for urban area and rural areas.

Technical bids are being evaluated nowadays. Once this process is completed, CDA will go for opening financial bids.

CDA has called tender for this proposed project four times during the last one-and-a-half years only to cancel it later on.

Bids of three joint ventures are being evaluated

This time around, sources said, the joint venture of NJC, MMC, Imperial Venture and JV of Altas Pak Waste Management Company and Associated Company are in the race for package I and these two joint ventures plus another JV of SA enterprises,

Three Brothers Construction and Nazir Luk and Co are vying for package II.

Earlier, CDA had divided Islamabad into two parts – urban and rural. Both contracts expired in March last year. Since then, in urban areas, CDA, through its own staff plus with private workers and hired machinery, had been carrying out cleanliness work and garbage collection.

It may be mentioned here that there is no system in place for rural areas where CDA carries secondary collection occasionally.

In the absence of any system in the rural areas, people are forced to throw trash in the open.

Whereas, in some areas, people also throw trash in nullahs, destroying the environment.

The lowest bidder will be awarded to maintain cleanliness throughout Islamabad, including door-to-door collection and shifting of garbage to Loser landfill site in Rawalpindi area.

Zone I, II and III are part of package I and Zone IV and Zone V fall in package II.

Sources said the CDA had directed the companies to deposit bids per tonne of trash as they will be paid on the basis of per tonne of waste collected.

Sources said the CDA will have to pay around Rs4 billion per year for both projects and new contracts will be awarded for four years.

The CDA has around 1,100 regular sanitation workers, who will also be placed at the disposal of contractors for cleanliness work.

Islamabad, otherwise known as a planned city, has no landfill site and the city’s trash is being shifted to Losar area in Rawalpindi for the last few years.

The city managers also want to build their own landfill site there as well.

The CDA was formed in 1960, but has so far failed to provide a landfill site for the capital city.

Instead of having a proper site, the civic agency has kept shifting the landfill site from one place to another.

Before moving to Losar, the CDA kept dumping garbage in the residential sector of 1-12.

However, a couple of years ago the practice was stopped.

“Yes, we are going to award two separate contracts for urban and rural areas, and currently bids are being evaluated. The lowest bidders will be responsible for door to door collection and cleanliness work of all areas,” said an officer of the CDA’s environment wing.

He said the CDA’s procurement and contract wing is dealing with tender affairs.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2026