Islooites Irked Over Untimely Garbage Collection

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Dec, 2019 ) :The sanitary workers, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) that are supposed to collect the solid waste on daily basis from every house in the sectors have failed to perform their duties and aggravated the problems of the locals.

The capital dwellers have complained that due to untimely collection of household waste, the trash has been scattered into the streets and could be seen all around the sectors.

If trash was not lifted on time it might be a serious health hazard to the lives of locals especially to the children playing into the streets, the citizens complained by expressing their concerns.

They blamed that sanitary staff only lifted garbage from posh areas of the city including F and E sectors while rest of the city were being treated as step motherly.

Aftab Ahmed, a resident of sector G-6/2 said the dumpsters installed at the corner of his street always gave a stuffy look due to irregular visit of sanitary staff.

He said he had lodged several complaints with the departments concerned, but no avail, urging the sanitation department to cleanse the trash trolleys regularly.

Being a capital city it was very unfortunate that the issue was getting worse with each passing day and the authorities were not paying heed to the basic issue, Shehryar Khan, a private employee at sector G-7/4 said.

"I cannot even walk through the streets without wearing a mask due to rising garbage heaps in almost every nook and corner of the city," he regretted.

"Globally, garbage is being used to generate energy, but the Federal capital is still lagging behind in opting modern technologies to deal with the trash," he added.

Farwa Hassan, a house wife in G-8, said she was observing the schedule of sanitary workers since last two months and were not collecting garbage on time.

"They often visits our streets after almost one week," she complained and urged the authorities concerned to pay special focus over the issue as prevailing situation of sanitation may create more troubles for the residents.

"The delay in lifting garbage left no option for us to throw the waste in open areas, a significant risk to public and environmental health," said Farhan, a resident of sector G-9.

Despite paying extra bucks to the sanitary workers, he said they were still not performing their duties with honesty as they were habitual.

While contacted, a senior official in Sanitation Directorate confirmed that the practice of delay in garbage lifting was being done regularly due to some issues of payment with the contractors. The payment was pending about 3 to 4 months that affected the work badly, he added.

However, he said the directorate was trying their best to resolve the funds issue and made regular payment of staff salaries.

The Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation budget is yet to be approved and the government has not released any funds so far due to the budget dispute between Capital Development Authority and the corporation, the official remarked.

\395\778