Govt announces three new waste management projects in Sindh

Rs29 billion allocated for local govt department in next fiscal year budget

KARACHI: Three new solid waste management projects have been announced in the Sindh budget 2017-18 for Karachi, Hyderabad and Shaheed Benazirabad, with an estimated cost of Rs2.20 billion. However, no solid waste management scheme from last year has seen the light of the day.

This is despite the fact that the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) has become functional in districts east and south of the city.

The provincial budget has allocated Rs29 billion for the local government department, of which SSWMB gets the third largest share of Rs2.95 billion, water supply and sanitation gets Rs11.77 billion and roads get Rs8.08 billion.

Ongoing schemes

On April 22, 2015, the Sindh government approved establishment of six Garbage Transfer Stations with Material Recovery and Refused Derived Fuel Facility in Karachi, for which Rs1.79 billion was allocated. This year, the project has been allocated for an amount of Rs1.33 billion, with a target completion date of June, 2019.



The Integrated Solid Waste Management Project (Phase-1) in Shaheed Benazirabad with an allocated cost of Rs0.28 billion was approved in 2015 and has been given the target completion date of June, 2019.

According to SSWMB's Director-General Dr Sajani, the two feasibility studies of Industrial Medical Hazardous Waste Management and Integrated Industrial Solid Waste Management in Karachi will be completed by August this year.

New schemes

The three new proposed schemes are unapproved. The establishment of a new landfill site in Dhabeji (Phase 1) for Karachi has an estimated cost of Rs2 billion and has a target completion date of June, 2019.



Other than this, the scheme for establishment of three Garbage Transfer Stations in Hyderabad is also an unapproved project at an estimated cost of Rs904.5 million and a target completion date of June, 2019.

Likewise, the Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Project Nawabshah Municipal Committee (Phase-II) Landfill Site and Material Recovery Facility has an estimated cost of Rs400 million and a target completion date of June, 2019.

Funds for local councils

In his budget speech on Monday, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that during the current financial year, Rs60 billion were earmarked for local councils in Sindh.



"For the upcoming financial year, we propose an allocation of Rs71 billion, including Rs5 billion for development schemes, to be undertaken by the local councils of Sindh," Shah said, adding that the distribution mechanism among the local councils of Sindh is to be determined by the provincial finance commission, which has started its deliberation.

Another important proposal that is being considered is the devolution of the collection of the Sindh Urban Immovable Property Tax. "In our experience, the devolution of collection of taxes at the appropriate levels increases efficiency and transparency," Shah said, adding that presently, the collection of Rs2 billion in lieu of Urban Immovable Property Tax is dismally low, when there it has a huge potential. "The devolution will increase the tax net while providing a considerable increase in the resources of local councils," he said.



For the upcoming financial year, Shah said, the Sindh government intends to replicate the financial management systems of the provincial government at local government level in Karachi and other districts of Sindh. This will control pilferage and improve efficiency of the local councils.