Unmotivated employees: Ill-equipped workers reluctant to clean up during Eid

Urgent meeting held to convince sanitary staff to work; promises made to fix problems later.

KARACHI:

If the chief minister and commissioner had not called an urgent meeting to pacify the municipality's sanitary workers, the city would have been quite dirty.

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) sanitary workers had refused to work with the few machines at their disposal. The city will sacrifice nearly 0.8 million animals in the three days of Eidul Azha and it needs the sanitary staff to work diligently to dispose of the animal waste.

The president of KMC's collective bargaining union, Syed Zulfiqar Shah, told The Express Tribune that the municipalities are facing a dearth of equipment. "Of the 1,200 vehicles that we have, nearly 50 per cent are out of order," he said, adding that the batteries and tyres of the remaining ones are also out-of-order.

Another problem that these workers have is that they have not been paid the honorarium from last year's Eidul Azha. This bonus amount is paid by the government to these workers to appreciate their work but the amount from last year as yet to be released. "How can the government expect them [workers] to work willingly now," he asked.

"Last year, several workers were injured during Eid service as 50 per cent of the vehicles were either out-of-order or were malfunctioning," Shah pointed out. Even if the animal waste is lifted, Shah admitted their vehicles will not be able to spray different neighbourhoods. "This is the real picture and people must be prepared for it," he said.

He advised people to dump their animal's waste at designated dumping points so they can be lifted on time. "People must help us and avoid putting the remains on roads, streets, parks, empty plots and into drains," he said.

Last week, when the commissioner and the KMC administrator met the sanitary staff, they requested them to carry out their duties during Eid and assured them their honorarium would be released after Eid.

To protest the delay in payment, the union's president threatened the officers that their workers will wear black armbands when they carry out cleaning work during the Eid holidays. An urgent meeting was called at the chief minister's house on Saturday, when the commissioner and the KMC administrator tried to convince the workers to work during the Eid holidays. They assured them that all their problems would be resolved after Eid.

"I know the crises are serious but for the sake of the city, the staff must perform its duties," commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui requested. "We cannot leave the city with several types of diseases," he added.

Meanwhile, KMC administrator Rauf Akhar Farooqui admitted that the situation of the corporation was not ideal. "But we have to work, we have to own the city," he said. He claimed to have settled the honorarium issue of the KMC staff and assured that the machinery issue will also be resolved as soon as possible.

CBC dedicates 900 vehicles

The Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) will dedicate 900 vehicles for cleaning up after the sacrifices, said Kabir Ali, the head of the sanitation's staff at CBC. Nearly 1,000 of our sanitary staff workers will be performing duties on all three days of Eid, he said.

"We will perform our duty all days and nights and a 24-hour emergency help line will also be working," said Ali, adding that they will spray the entire neighbourhood after the remains are lifted. In case of any complaints about cleanliness, the CBC team can be contacted at 021-35847839 and 0333 314 2662.

Vehicle POWER

Number of vehicles dedicated to cleaning during Eid

District South             200

District West              210

District East               200

District Malir              230

District Central          260

District Korangi          180

CBC                             90

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2014.