K-P given 30 days to activate sewage project

The provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday was given a month to activate industrial and hospitals waste disposal projects.

This was directed on Thursday by a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, as it heard a suo moto case regarding the disposal of hospital waste in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

During proceedings, a representative of the provincial government submitted a report in the case.

CJP Ahmed asked about sewage drains emptying into rivers and streams.

At this, K-P Advocate General Shumail Butt told the court that two sewage treatment plants are being built in Peshawar while separate drain pipelines will be constructed along the canals, streams and rivers.

At this, CJP Ahmed remarked that the case has been pending in for two years and no treatment plants were built.

Responding to this, K-P Local Government Secretary Shakeel Ahmed told the court that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $475 million for the project.

The chief justice asked the secretary whether he knew how much money did that amount to.

"If the entire province gets $400 million then its fortunes will change," the CJP remarked. The government has not been able to build a sewage system in the past 72 years, CJP Ahmed said, adding that the government has had to go to the ADB and the World Bank to even dig drains in the country.

When will the country become self-sufficient in some areas, he remarked.

If the chief minister cannot provide facilities to the people then he should leave the government, the CJP added.

The court rejected the report presented by the government and directed to present a new progress report within a month, adding that if he is not satisfied with the report, the chief minister will be summoned.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2020.