Judicial commission orders removal of K-IV project director

Health secretary admits there is no proper place to dump medical waste

KARACHI: The judicial commission directed on Thursday the provincial chief secretary to remove the current project director of the K-IV project along with other delinquent officers in other departments in consultation with the chief minister.

Justice (retd) Amir Hani Muslim issued these directives while heading the Supreme Court-appointed judicial commission to implement its recommendations and orders passed regarding provision of safe drinking water and improvement of sanitation conditions in Sindh.

During the proceedings, the commission expressed its grave concerns to Chief Secretary Muhammad Rizwan Memon regarding competence and performance of officers of different departments.

To the commission's query, Health Secretary Fazlullah Pechuho submitted a report regarding steps to ensure installation of the incinerators at public hospitals for safe disposal of hazardous medical waste.

However, Justice (retd) Muslim told him to explain what practical steps had been taken for disposal of medical waste instead of merely showing paperwork.



Pechuho said the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation takes the waste from hospitals and admitted that there was no proper place to dump such waste.

He informed the commission that a place to install an incinerator was identified in Liaquatabad, but the residents opposed it. Another incinerator installed at Civil Hospital, Karachi is not functional, he added.

Justice (retd) Muslim remarked that he will personally visit Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and other health facilities in Lyari for inspection.

To a query regarding the status of the K-IV project, a major water supply scheme for Karachi, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) Managing Director Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi said that he had already submitted a plan on its completion.

The commission expressed its concern over the failure of K-IV project's director to appear to explain the project’s status to the commission. Expressing its concern on the ineligibility and attitude of the project director, the commission directed the chief secretary to remove the officer.

It noted that 78 employees were posted at the treatment plants I and II, but none of them had recorded their attendance in the last 14 months.



Expressing his helplessness, the local government secretary said they were employees of the KWSB, thus he could not take any action against them.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, who appeared on the commission's notice, said he had approached the Sindh High Court for implementation of the SC’s order regarding dissolution of Sindh Solid Waste Management Board. He said the issues pertaining to non-lifting of garbage in Karachi had started emerging eight or nine years ago.

He presented a report on suggestions to resolve the issues relating to non-supply of clean drinking water and sanitation in the city. Justice (retd) Muslim came down hard on LG Secretary Rizwan Awan and remarked that the commission will have to recommend to the SC to initiate contempt proceedings against him over non-compliance of the orders.

The secretary said anyone who was asked to do work demanded money from him.

Addressing the chief secretary, the commission remarked that it had serious concerns over the performance of government officers and cautioned him to refer their matters to the National Accountability Bureau for inquiry and also to the SC for contempt of court proceedings.



He asked the secretary to ask the government whether it would remove them itself or the commission will have to pass an appropriate order against them.

Secretary Memon requested two or three days to obtain instructions from the CM. The commission granted him time till January 30 to receive instructions from the government and submit his report.

He was also directed to submit a report mentioning which projects could be completed by the end of June 2018.

The commission also directed a five-member committee comprising experts and lawyers to work out a plan regarding completion of rehabilitation of water filtration plants as well as water supply schemes initiated by the public health engineering department and Water and Sanitation Authority, Hyderabad, by the next date.

Furthermore, it issued notices to the planning and development commission secretary, the Karachi Port Trust's chairperson, the Defense Housing Authority's administrator and chief executive officers of all the cantonment boards in Karachi to file their reports regarding water and sanitation schemes.