Waste management: Turkish gift of 60 machines to arrive on Feb 20

After the arrival of new machines, old machinery will be sold in an auction.

LAHORE:

Two Turkish companies will start work in collaboration with the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) by February 20, Waseem Ajmal, the LWMC managing director said on Tuesday.

The companies, he said, would send 60 machines along with their own supervisors in the second week of February.

The machines include mini-dumpers, various types of mechanical sweepers and washing vehicles. These will help clean, sweep and collect garbage door-to-door in 26 union councils of Lahore. Ajmal said the Turkish experts will also train LWMC workers.

The LWMC has divided Lahore into two zones. The project will be implemented in each zone in four phases. The first phase in zone-1, will begin on February 20 and last for four months.

LWMC Communications Manager Memoona Arslan Bhatti told The Express Tribune that replicating the Turkish model of a clean city was not easy. The door-to-door garbage collection, she said, will put an end to the problem of empty plots being turned into dump sites. The residents will be charged between Rs25 and Rs100, she added.

She said there will be no charges in the first four months. Garbage bag will also be provided for Rs2 each, she said.

She said garbage cans will be placed underground and only machines will be able to lift garbage out of them.

According to an LWMC estimate, Lahore produces 6,500 tons of garbage everyday, of which 5,000 tons is picked up by LWMC. The LWMC also plans to set up a project for producing electricity from garbage, she added.

Plants for production of electricity would be installed at Lakhodair, where the LWMC has acquired 160 acres of land that will be turned into a land fill site. Garbage recycling plants would also be installed soon, she said.

After the arrival of the new machinery, the old machinery in the LWMC use will be sold through an auction.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2012.