RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The Punjab government has planned to outsource waste collection to private sector in five major cities of Punjab.

This was disclosed during a meeting of solid waste management and water stock-taking held here on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad. The stock-taking meeting is held on a quarterly basis in which the progress of health, education, water and solid waste management sectors is tracked against a set of pre-determined targets.

The meeting was told that in the urban sector, waste collection is carried out through seven Waste Management Companies (WMCs) in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur. Operations of five WMCs in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur are planned to be outsourced to private international contractors to improve operations.

Lahore Waste Management Companies and Rawalpindi Waste Management Companies have already been outsourced to private international contractors from Turkey, Al-Bayrak and Ozpak, to manage all operations.

The meeting was further told that out of the seven WMCs, two have landfill sites: Lahore and Multan. For the rest, establishment of landfills are under process and at present they have temporary disposal sites. It also reviewed the progress on installing a ‘waste to energy’ plant, which will add economic value to the collected waste.