Walled City project: SWM component fails to get extension

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LAHORE: The Project Management Unit (PMU) of the “Sustainable Development of Walled City of Lahore Project” has failed to get extension to a proposal to carry out solid waste management activities with active participation of the people living in the Walled City.

The proposal has been turned down by the Planning and Development (P&D) department.

Sources told Dawn that the PMU’s failure to ‘justify’ the proposal before the department would harm the efforts to achieve core objectives particularly to create a sense of ownership among the locals. It would also cause unemployment besides creating problems/hurdles in the execution of the project.

“Actually, the senior staff members of the PMU had sought a formal approval for extending this scheme worth Rs9.480 million for the fiscal year 2011-12 so as to continue the solid waste management activities in some target areas particularly Shahi Guzargah inside Delhi Gate.

“The purpose of this proposal was also to involve the local community in the cleanliness work so that they could own the project,” an official said.

He said the PMU had launched this scheme in 2009 by recruiting nearly 50 sanitary workers and supervisors from various localities of Walled City. It purchased equipment and two motorcycle-rickshaws to carry out work.

The unit, he said, also added two more components to the scheme to create social awareness and education on solid waste management and hygiene promotion among the focused groups particularly children and youth.

He said as the upcoming June 30 was the last day of this scheme, the PMU staff developed a new proposal 10 days back and sought extension from the P&D department. “On receipt of proposal the department called PMU Director-General Naheed Rizvi to personally discuss it in the last week. But the DG could not justify the case and finally withdrew this because of a lack of experience and requisite skills about the project activities,” he claimed.

He said though the DG had received a briefing on the scheme soon after assuming the charge last year, she failed to justify importance and prime objectives of this scheme.

He said there was a series of activities that had to be carried out in the next fiscal year, including a three-time cleanliness work daily in two shifts and waste disposal within localities of Shahi Guzargah (inside Delhi Gate) and raising awareness about solid waste management and community ownership. But from July no such activity would be carried out due to withdrawal of the scheme.

He said this would force the PMU to terminate 50 employees working on the scheme since 2009 and cause severe resentment among the residents.

“I have learnt that the PMU will not execute this scheme further. It means end of many useful activities being carried out there,” Muhammad Tariq, a sanitary supervisor said. He said the PMU should have obtained approval to extend this proposal.

Malik Hafeez, another sanitary supervisor, said the failure of the PMU to get this proposal extended would not only affect the cleanliness work in various focused areas but also hit other activities of the project like restoration of historical buildings and infrastructure development.

DG Naheed Rizvi declined to comment on the issue while Project Director (Administration and Finance) Aamir Zameer was not available for version.