Cleaning of roads littered with garbage during sit-ins begins
RECORDER REPORT
LAHORE: The Punjab government has taken up the task of sweeping the mess left by the protestors in all cities of Punjab during the three-day protest against the release of Asia Bibi; the civic agencies were at a standstill and heaps of garbage piled up on roads across the province.
In this connection, Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan on Saturday directed the concerned officials to immediately take steps for ensuring cleanliness in all cities of Punjab. He further directed to dump waste at the land fill sites within 24 hours.
He also asked Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) Managing Director Farrukh Qayyum Butt to ensure that in each union council waste container are emptied and special teams are constituted for supervision of cleanliness.
“Due to extraordinary circumstances in the city, the job of waste collection could not be carried out which created a big mess in different parts of the city. However, the situation has normalized and there should be no delay in resuming the waste collection activities,” he said.
On the instructions of Senior Minister, the LWMC MD cancelled the staff’s weekly Sunday holiday and gave 48 hours ultimatum to complete waste operation in the city. In this regard, he designated senior management officials in nine towns to supervise the cleanliness operation. The MD will personally monitor the operation in the city.
“All staff of the LWMC is participating in collection of waste. The entire work force and field machinery has been deployed in the city to go an extra mile to clear backlog of waste,” he added.
In routine, the LWMC lifts nearly 6000 to 7000 tons of waste in Lahore on daily basis; due to uncertain law and order situation, it is estimated that around 21000 tons of waste was accumulated in three days in Lahore alone.
Meanwhile, the Senior Minister also directed that apart from Lahore in other cities of Punjab, special steps should be taken to clear the mess. He appealed to the citizens to cooperate with the civic agencies to ensure proper cleanliness.
