More than 10,000 LWMC workers and managers were on duty during the Eid holidays. Northern parts of Lahore were kept fairly clean, but there were complaints of mismanagement in southern neighbourhoods including the Walled City.
The LWMC rented 350 pickups that, along with 500 of its own vehicles, transported 23,631 tons of waste in 4,969 round trips. Eidul Azha is the busiest time of year for sanitary workers, as the city generates twice its average daily amount of solid waste on the day.
The LWMC had cancelled its staff’s Eid holidays and sanitary workers who served on the three days will get bonuses of Rs1,000 each.
LWMC Managing Director Waseem Ajmal, as well as the Lahore commissioner and district coordination officer, visited several neighbourhoods to inspect the arrangements made by the company to ensure cleanliness. Ajmal terminated four work-charge employees and suspended nine supervisory staff for negligence on duty.
The company distributed 500,000 special bags in various areas of the city for the safe disposal of animal remains. Camps were set up in each of the city’s 150 union councils to address complaints and stayed open till 7pm. These camps had sanitary staff, machinery and transport vehicles, and supervisory officers to monitor the work.
The 15 call agents at the LWMC helpline, 1139, received 6,000 complaints during the three days and 75 per cent of these complaints were resolved, said the company. A separate control room was set up to monitor how complaints were handled. Special cleaning arrangements were made for slaughter houses, mosques and collective slaughter sites.
LWMC workers and volunteers also conducted an awareness campaign to try and teach people safe ways to dispose of animal remains. Announcements were made through mosques informing citizens of sanitation arrangements and asking for their cooperation.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ