A kind of magic: Streets cleaned overnight ahead of PM’s visit

Residents feel more VIP visits can solve other problems.

KARACHI: The streets leading to Port Qasim on the outskirts of Karachi became squeaky clean overnight as the authorities prepared for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit on Tuesday.

Around 50 workers from the sanitary department and their officers were seen sweeping the roads and de-watering the sewage-filled areas as late as 11:30pm on Monday night. The prime minister was scheduled to inaugurate two 660-megawatt coal-based power plants at Port Qasim on Tuesday morning.

The determined workers swept the roads oblivious of the fact that there were no diversions on the main road to protect them from the fast-moving cars. Their safety jackets and torches the only signals for the heavy trucks that usually ply on the road leading from Quaidabad to Port Qasim.

These workers of the Malir district municipal corporation (DMC) finished their duty at 2am on Tuesday morning and were only able to catch a few hours of sleep before they reported back on duty at 7am. "We don't get any incentives for this work," complained a sanitary worker, requesting anonymity.

The officials brushed aside their complaints. "This is their job," said the deputy director of the solid waste management department in district Malir, Niaz Ahmed Palijo. He explained that this 50-men emergency task force was used for VIP movements and rain emergencies.

Even the municipal commissioner, Ashfaque Mallah, said this was part of the routine work for these sanitary workers. Why is it that these brooms and machines only come to work before the arrival of a VIP? Mallah denied this was the case. "Sanitation work and garbage collection is our top priority."

Meanwhile, the residents of these areas feel more VIP visits can resolve other problems in the area. "I think half of our problems can vanish if we just invite the PM to visit these places," joked Abdul Razaque, a resident of Gulshan-e-Hadeed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2014.