Cleaning up Pakistan

In 2017, I was inspired by Pakistan’s publicity campaign to foster tourism and decided to embark on a journey throughout the country. My journey started in Lahore. As I explored the Walled City, Badshahi Mosque, and the historical parts of Lahore, I was stunned by the majesty of it all. What a beautiful city! For a moment I felt I was in Istanbul, Turkey. There were gardens, people roaming, amazing food, and a range of historical architecture reflecting the British Colonial period, Sikh rule, the Mughal empire, and modern Pakistan. But every time I saw something beautiful, I saw something grotesque and evil – trash littered everywhere.

As we were travelling past Abbottabad towards the northern areas, we pulled over to get petrol for our vehicle. We were in this beautiful small village, in a green valley with a river running through it. It was enchanting. I went inside the petrol station and purchased a drink and snack. When I was done with my drink and snack, I asked the cashier where the trash can was so I could throw away the trash. He said, “There is no trash can, just throw it behind the petrol station.” I went to the back of the petrol station, and directly behind the petrol station – as I peered at this beautiful valley – was a mountain of trash.

The Turkish government estimates that in 2022, tourism to Turkey will bring in $34.5 billion. Tourism is responsible for an estimated 6.7 million jobs in Turkey. Tourism increases revenue, foreign currency, reserves, helps small business, fosters international trade, and addresses many of the economic ills of Pakistan. But why would anyone want to visit a country littered with trash?

This cultural shift promoting cleanliness requires changing the mindset of every single citizen of Pakistan. The culture cannot change without strict laws and the rigorous enforcement of those laws. Creating laws against littering and enforcing these laws will not only clean up Pakistan but also increase government revenue. Consequently, I suggest the government enact laws that promote a culture of a clean Pakistan.

The anti-littering laws must require every single government building, school (public or private), business location, religious facility (mosque, church, temple), farm, street vendor, residential locations, homes and colonies to have trash cans inside the premises and outside the premises. These entities shall keep any open space directly outside of their physical location up to 10 meters clean from any litter. This space includes the frontage, the backside and open sides up to 10 meters from the physical boundary of the physical location. There should be a robust punishment of 10,000 rupees per infraction for failure to maintain trash management and location cleanliness.

If law enforcement witnesses anyone litter on the street or in a public space, the littering person is given a fine of 20,000 rupees. If that person is unable to pay the fine of 20,000 rupees then they are to spend three nights in jail. If a citizen of Pakistan sees an individual in a public space or a vehicle driving on the street and there is litter released, then any citizen of Pakistan can take a video or photograph of the individual littering or the licence plate of the car from which the litter was released and send it to a government website with evidence of that person or vehicle littering on the street in a public space. The individual who is reported for littering by a citizen shall face a fine of 10,000 rupees.

Any individual caught littering in a public park, national park, road, highway, beach, historical location or a designated space by the government that is essential to tourism shall be fined 20,000 rupees per infraction.

It may appear that these laws are harsh. However, every modern society has laws against littering and public policies in place to promote cleanliness. Singapore has punishments such as caning when it comes to littering. Pakistanis follow anti-littering laws when they are traveling abroad. Pakistanis living in the Middle East, Europe and the USA don’t litter. Pakistanis can follow the rules abroad regarding littering, but can’t follow the rules in their own country? It is time to clean up Pakistan. This initiative requires a fundamental shift in societal thinking. The only way for that to happen is the swift enactment of anti-littering laws and their rigorous enforcement.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2022.

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