Punjab Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal has said the zero-waste target given to the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) would be achieved before the end of January 15 deadline as the company has successfully removed 85% garbage from the city.
He expressed these views while addressing a news conference at the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) Office on Thursday. The minister said that in 2009 the annual spending for cleaning up the provincial was Rs1.05 billion which grew to Rs7 billion a year later when Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) government awarded the cleaning contract to two foreign companies.
The minister disclosed that a $320 million contract was signed with these companies for a period of seven years. “Around 70% of the total amount was paid in dollars to them,” he added. He said the LWMC was the legitimate owner of all the machinery after the agreement’s expiry, however former government officials changed the agreement to facilitate the foreign companies.
The audit report has recommended recovering Rs7 billion from them, he emphasised. “Those who claimed that they have not been corrupt, evidence proves that the embezzled amount is in billions,” he lambasted the PML-N leadership. “When the chief minister assigned me to oversee the cleanliness drive 25,000 tons of garbage was lying on the roads.
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