FWMC terminates waste management contract

Board observes anomalies during performance review

FAISALABAD:

The Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) has terminated the contract of a private firm and forfeited its performance guarantee after allegations of poor performance and financial losses amounting to Rs1 billion to the national exchequer.

Sources said the decision was taken after a delay of nearly one and a half months, allegedly due to pressure from influential circles.

The Directorate of Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had registered a case on May 11, against the owners of M/S Care Services Consortium through its lead partner Collaborative Heavy Industries (Pvt) Ltd, along with 10 officers of FWMC.

The accused are currently lodged in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. Sources said the matter of contract termination was presented before the FWMC Board of Directors, which unanimously approved the management's proposal after reviewing performance-related issues and field verification reports.

The board observed that anomalies highlighted during the performance review indicated significant gaps between digital reporting and actual field deployment.

It noted that the discrepancies had affected the monitoring mechanism, resulted in incorrect Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) scoring and had potential financial implications for the public exchequer.

The board further stated that M/S Care Services had failed to provide the required standard of waste management services in Faisalabad tehsil despite repeated notices, field instructions, opportunities for improvement and issuance of a formal default notice.

The FWMC Board approved the recommendation of the procurement committee to terminate the agreement in accordance with applicable contractual provisions and legal requirements.

Following the cancellation of the contract, FWMC will independently arrange alternative waste management services for the affected operational areas, sources said.

The company has also directed M/S Care Services to immediately stop all operational activities and ensure a smooth handover of operational zones, machinery, digital records, monitoring systems, public repositories and related assets to FWMC's designated manager within 24 hours of receiving the termination order.

Baba Latif Ansari, Chairman Labour National Movement, said that Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad Captain (retd) Nadeem Nasir had assured, a day before Eid, that the jobs of all workers who performed their duties during Eid, including sanitary workers, rickshaw drivers and supervisors - would be protected and that he would personally take responsibility for them.

"We only want to remind him of that commitment, as the company has already received a termination letter," he said.

He claimed that following the termination of the company's contract, rickshaw drivers were dismissed about a week ago, while supervisors were also terminated recently.

Ansari further said that the affected workers were still waiting for one and a half months of unpaid salaries and other dues.