SC questions legal status of solid waste management board

Why SSWMB had not been handed over to local government if it was a municipal body, asks bench

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) called on Monday details from the provincial advocate-general and others regarding the legal status of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) set up by the Sindh government to handle the solid waste in the province.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, asked the petitioner and others to file their comments to the review plea, at the SC's Karachi Registry Branch.

The Sindh government had filed a review application, asking the apex court to review its observations made in its March 16 order regarding the solid waste management board.



Advocate-general (AG) Barrister Zamir Ghumro said in the apex court's order passed during the proceedings in a case regarding the non-provision of clean drinking water and sanitation conditions in Sindh, it had observed that the 'non-functional board [SSWMB] has never performed its duties and should be dissolved to local bodies as provided under the rules of business.

He argued that SSWMB was lawfully established under the provisions of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014. Therefore, the same cannot be dissolved, he insisted.

He argued that the apex court had made its observations, but no specific order was passed for dissolving SSWMB.



Justice Alam questioned the law officer that wasn't the solid waste management board a municipal body, which the provincial government was running. He further inquired on why SSWMB had not been handed over to the local government if it was a municipal body.

Justice Faisal Arab, another bench member, observed that the situation of solid waste was known to everyone, so why was the government unable to see the piles of garbage.

The bench directed the AG to submit a reply of the provincial government containing details on the legal status of SSWMB. He will also explain how the provincial government was running a municipal body in the presence of the local government.

Mayor's petition

A petition filed by Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar is currently pending disposal in the Sindh High Court (SHC), seeking directions to the Sindh government to dissolve the solid waste management board and transfer it to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).



In the plea, the mayor had also referred to a SC verdict where it had been observed that the 'non-functional board [SSWMB] has never performed its duties and should be dissolved to local bodies as provided under the rules of business'.

He had contended that despite the directives of the SC, the relevant provincial authorities had not taken any steps to transfer the functions of the board to the elected local representative bodies.

Akhtar had pleaded the court to direct the relevant authorities to transfer all the assets falling under the umbrella of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board Act, 2014, to the local government institutions.



He had further requested the SHC to direct the respondents to give complete details of all the funds that had been received for the purpose of solid waste management and to appoint a reputable auditor to audit the financial matters of the board.