Housing societies' cleanliness ordered

LAHORE:

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has ordered that cleanliness in cooperative and private housing societies should be ensured, authorities to improve the Suthra Punjab programme across the province.

Chairing a meeting, she ordered the use of uniform dustbins and garbage bags in commercial areas with fixed timings for removal of waste.

She ordered washing and cleaning of main roads daily at 5:00am and stressed the need to clean the streets and neighbourhoods.

She also ordered authorities to begin cleaning vacant plots.

The CM ordered salary payment to Suthra Punjab workers by the fifth of every month and sought monthly reports from the companies in this regard.

She ordered early payment of outstanding dues to the contractors and immediate action in case of delay in payment of salaries.

She ordered door-to-door waste collection to be ensured and directed the additional deputy commissioners for social services across the province to monitor the cleanliness situation.

The chief minister ordered that the staff and machinery requirements should be met as per local needs.

She also ordered cleanliness around schools, colleges, universities and hospitals, as well as in parks and green belts, especially the removal of empty bottles, juice boxes and other waste.

She ordered measures for cleaning urban areas around railway tracks across the province and said the entry and exit points of cities should be cleaned daily on time.

The deputy commissioners were directed to maintain continuous contact and hold meetings with the contractors and managing directors of Water and Sanitation Authorities. She also ordered the same uniform of field monitoring officers and branding of their motorcycles.

The CM said standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be formulated to assess performance at every level, from workers to officers, with special focus on cleanliness in vegetable and fruit markets.

She ordered that in case of violation of the SOPs, contractors should be given 24 hours to improve their performance before imposing a fine.

"Imposing fines is not our objective; the focus should be on ensuring cleanliness," she said, adding that a zero-tolerance policy should be adopted against those who failed to perform in the sanitation initiative.

The chief minister ordered regular cleaning of Suthra Punjab vehicles, containers and waste collection points. She stressed that besides main roads, streets and neighbourhoods must also be cleaned. "Suthra Punjab is very close to my heart. We will have to work harder to achieve better results," she said.

The chief minister appreciated cleanliness in Lahore, Khanewal, Okara, Attock, Kasur, Murree and some other cities, ordering the teams in Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sheikhupura and other areas to improve their situation.

She said the next meeting would be convened next week to assess the implementation of the orders.