Having failed to convince its sanitary workers to wear safety kits, the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC), has decided to return the kits to the donor, Inter-faith League Against Poverty (ILAP).
"We have conveyed to the ILAP that the IMC is ready to return the personal protective kits (PPE) as the workers cannot wear it in the hot weather due to its weather-unfriendly construction," said IMC Sanitation Director Sardar Khan Zimri while speaking to the APP.
Zimri said that around 600 sanitary workers were given kits to protect them from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). But most of the staff refused to wear them because it was too difficult to work while wearing the kits in the prevailing hot and humid weather.
Some of the sanitary workers were forced to wear the safety kits and perform their duties, but they felt uncomfortable in them and a few even fell unconscious under the beating sun, he noted.
The ILAP, Zimri said, had asked the IMC to ensure that staff wear the kits or return them.
The IMC sanitation director said around 40 per cent of the department’s staff comprises women, adding that they never expressed their willingness to wear the kits.
Meanwhile, ILAP Chairman Sajid Ishaq dismissed Zimri’s arguments.
"The IMC is making lame excuses just to cover up its incompetency and mismanagement," Ishaq said.
He added that the ILAP had provided 1,000 safety kits of international standards to IMC’s sanitation department. The kits included face shields, goggles, gloves, protective suits and face masks.
However, the IMC had failed to ensure that all of their field workers wear the safety kits, he said.
The ILAP chairman said the IMC could not understand the use of kits and failed to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
"I have seen the workers who put on the protective suits on top of their regular clothes, which negates the SOPs," he remarked.
Separately, a sanitary worker who was given the protective kit by the IMC, said: "It is not made to fit our weather as it undermines the efficiency of our work."
Joint Christian Action Committee of Islamabad and Rawalpindi President Basharat Khokhar, however, rejected the notion that all sanitary workers had received the safety kits.
"As of now, there are 1,200 permanent workers of IMC’s sanitation wing, while 800 are working under private contractors. Only 50 per cent have got the kits so far," he noted.
Meanwhile, the residents of various sectors also complained about sanitary workers, who had been collecting garbage without even wearing a mask or gloves.
Ashfaq Ahmed, a resident of Sector G-7, said that sanitary workers without masks and gloves are not only exposing themselves to Covid-19 but also pose a threat to others.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2020.
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