Out of register: Waste collectors wish to work on their own

LWMC wants to induct them, but latter fear not being paid on time

LAHORE: There are thousands of waste collectors in the city, whom the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) wanted to induct as formal workers, but the latter are reluctant, believing they would not be paid a sufficient salary on time.

The city is home to at least 20,000 informal waste collectors, LWMC Communications Assistant Manager Asad Ahmed said while talking to The Express Tribune.

He added waste collectors also segregate the material.

They have outsourced waste collection and dumping to a Turkish company, banning informal collectors from picking material from major landfills, he said.



However, he added, they did not want to stop scavengers from picking waste material from the city as it can take a toll on many families whose bread and butter depends on income that comes from selling waste. “Therefore, we want an inclusive approach towards scavengers and include them in our system,” Asad said.

LWMC had formulated a proposal to formally induct waste scavengers into the system by training them, giving them uniforms and setting a monthly salary, he added.

The company had also got an advertisement published six months ago, calling for interested third parties to conduct a feasibility study, but no significant progress could be made in this regard, the official added.

“Even now, in our future plans, we aim at making waste scavengers a part of our system, but no budget has been allocated for the process so far as it’s still in the initial phases.”

“Right now the plan is limited to doing a feasibility study on how to include waste collectors in the system and whether the project will be successful or not,” Asad said adding that  the plan might not go down well with waste collectors, who might be reluctant, based on reasons pertaining to money.

“As a family unit we [manage to] earn more than the money offered [to us] by the government, therefore  such initiatives can do no good to us,” Muhammad Usman, a waste collector said.

Another waste collector, Muhammad Ajmal, who has worked for LWMC before was of the view that the government does not pay them the promised amount on time.

He also sells the waste material. Ajmal is a resident of Rasool Pura, Johar Town, who said he has been in the profession for the last 20 years.

Ajmal is a part of a slum community of around 200 people who live right behind the building of Lahore Development Authority. They pick up plastic and paper from waste and sell it to buyers near Hakim Chowk for Rs3 to Rs4 per kilogramme.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2016.