200 Chinese garbage-lifting machines to begin operations next week in Karachi

Twenty-two of these have been cleared from Karachi port, confirms Sindh Solid Waste Management Board

KARACHI: In about a week’s time, 200 garbage-lifting machines among other equipment imported from China will be used for waste disposal, said Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) managing director Dr AD Sajnani.

He added that after arriving at Karachi port, 22 of the 200 garbage-lifting machines and garbage compactor trucks have been cleared. The remaining machinery will be cleared by next week, after which it will be deployed for maintaining cleanliness in the city.

The machinery had arrived in the start of January. However, it was lying at Karachi port for Customs formalities.



Sajnani added that apart from these 200 machines, 200 tricycle refuse vehicles, 1,300 handcarts, 5,000 dustbins of 240-litre capacity, several 280-litre steel dustbins, 3,200 dustbins of 260-litre capacity, showers to clean trees, mechanical sweepers and street-washing vehicles will also be cleared along with the other remaining trucks by the next week. After that, they will be able to start operating in South and East districts.

We are going to pay $24 per tonne to a Chinese company, Changyi Kangjie Sanitation Engineering Company, but it is also expected that the cost may be reduced in the future, added Sajnani. He said that they are building Garbage Transfer Stations in all of the districts. Talking about a recently constructed garbage transfer station near Mewa Shah Graveyard, Sajnani added that it is built in the premises of Gutter Bagheecha, which is owned by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. However, he said, a resident has filed a petition in the high court, laying claim to the land. He added that they are facing obstacles but these will soon be eliminated with coordinated efforts.

Responding to a question about garbage disposal in other districts of the city, Sajnani said that by the time the company starts operating in South and East districts, the SSWMB will take the initiative one step ahead by expanding it to all the districts of the city.



On the other hand, Local Bodies Minister Jam Khan Shoro told The Express Tribune that it will just take a few more days when the citizens of Karachi will observe the city being cleaned through modern methods. Shoro added that they want the support of all the political forces in the city so that they can continue to serve the city.

The Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP)-led Sindh government had decided to outsource garbage collection in the city to the Chinese company soon after the formation of the SSWMB.



Meanwhile, a judicial commission headed by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro had also asked the local government secretary to submit a plan to get rid of solid waste in the city. The commission had also issued notices to the local government secretary, the Karachi commissioner, the district council’s chief officer and all the deputy commissioners to file reports regarding management of solid waste.