By sh Naeem Tahir
SARGODHA-Punjab Minister for Local Government (LG) Zeeshan Rafique has said that after the success of the first phase of “Suthra Punjab” program, the second and third phase is being started simultaneously. In the second phase, similar activities will be carried out in rural and urban areas. There will be a senetary worker for 250 houses who will be responsible for cleaning the streets, collecting garbage from the houses, cleaning the drains and man holes etc. This system will be given on contract at the tehsil level. Garbage collected, will first be transferred to temporary collection points. Digital monitoring of this system will be done. Committees of 5 members will be formed at ward level in every village and city. The members of the committee will include a locsl teacher, LHV and imam of the mosque and two local people. The committees will ensure cleanliness and redressal of grievances in their respective areas. He expressed this while presiding over a meeting in the conference room of the Commissioner office during his visit to Sargodha on Saturday. Commissioner Muhammad Ajmal Bhatti, Deputy Commissioner Captain Retired Aurangzeb Haider Khan and Director Local Government, besides members of National and Provincial Assembly, other officers of municipal bodies were also present in the meeting. The provincial minister said that the proposal to collect a nominal fee from each house is under consideration. He said, “in the third phase, the garbage collected at the level of villages and wards will be put to useful use. Big units will be installed in each division, where the greens in the garbage will be separated and made usable as fertilizer and energy. Other recyclable items including glass and plastic will be separated and made reusable while the remaining 20% waste will be transferred to the dumping site. The Urban Unit has identified the dumping sites in each district and landfill sites will be made safe in all respects as per modern requirements.” The minister said that the Muslim League-N government has started a revolutionary program of sanitation for the first time in 72 years. “Due to the lack of comprehensive solid waste management system in Punjab, the infrastructure has reached the brink of destruction. There is no system of municipal services in the rural areas, while in the cities, the sewerage system is also destroyed, drinking water is not available.”, he added. The LG minister further said that a new industry will be created by recycling garbage ehich will adjust more than 100,000 unemployed youth in local transport and other related businesses. He said, “The tax revenue can be spent on the welfare of the people. Almost 57,500 tons of solid waste is generated in Punjab every day, while the municipal institutions have the capacity to remove only 18,000 tons of waste and thus, about 39,000 tons of waste is accumulated daily.” He urged the parliamentarians and the public to take ownership of this important project so that they can also play their part in making Punjab clean and green.
The provincial minister said that a summary of the solid waste management company in Sargodha has been prepared and it will be presented for approval in the next meeting of the provincial cabinet. “In collaboration with the World Bank, the ongoing water supply and drainage projects in 16 different cities of Punjab will be completed in March, while Sargodha is also being included in the second phase. The Public Health Engineering Department has been stopped to construct roads and in future, road of more than five kilometers will be built by C&W and the road of less than five kilometers will be built by the local government. Apart from water supply and sewage system, work is also going on to set up water treatment plant in every village of Punjab with the support of World Bank. In this regard, the final plan will be formed soon.”, he added. In the meeting, Commissioner Muhammad Ajmal Bhatti and Director of Local Government Asif Iqbal Malik gave a detailed briefing on the progress of Suthra Punjab so far. Commissiner said, “Sargodha stood first in the whole of the province in Suthra Punjab capmaign while it is second after Faisalabad in fee collection.” The provincial minister congratulated the Commissioner and his team for their excellent performance. Earlier, Provincial Minister Zeeshan Rafiq reviewed the progress of work on two ongoing water supply projects of Punjab Rural Municipal Services Company with the support of World Bank in the villages of Kot Imrana and Nasirpur Khard in Tehsil Kotmomin. He checked the quality of the construction material and directed the contractor to complete the work within the stipulated time.
