Cleaner G-B: Vehicles provided for solid waste management

G-B CM Hafeezur Rehman says control room will be set up to ensure coordination

GILGIT: A fleet of vehicles was handed over by the Gilgit-Baltistan government to Gilgit Metropolitan Corporation (GMC) to ensure solid waste management.

G-B Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman handed over 20 rickshaws and 20 vans to the committee at a ceremony held in Gilgit. The project costs Rs25 million.

“It is now our collective responsibility to keep the city clean,” Rehman told participants at the ceremony. The event was attended by G-B Minister for Local Government Farman Ali, among others.

GMC Administrator Khurram Pervaiz also briefed the chief minister about the strategy for waste management.

“The small carriers would easily enter narrow streets [to collect] waste,” he said.

Rehman said a control room will be established to ensure effective coordination between the staff and other stakeholders and guarantee cleanliness of the town. He said dustbins would also be installed to ensure proper disposal of waste.

“We will be hiring 110 people for the project,” said the chief minister. He added the rickshaws and van are equipped with GPRS technology to help detects locations at all times.

The decision to induct new vehicles came days after the government upgraded the municipal committee under the local government act.

As per the notification, the municipal committee shall be renamed Gilgit Metropolitan Corporation under the provisions of the act.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2016.