Environment protection: ‘Waste management is a prerequisite for urban development’

GCUF promises to complement FWMC’s awareness campaigns.

FAISALABAD: Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) Managing Director Amjad Ali Awan said on Thursday that effective waste management was a prerequisite for urban development.

He was addressing students of Government College University Faisalabad’s (GCUF’s) environmental sciences department.

Awan said construction of roads and buildings was traditionally considered a barometer for urban development while the importance of waste management was often overlooked. He said this could compromise development activities in other sectors.



Awan said effective waste management practices were enshrined in developed countries not due to the amount of resources at their disposal but because of positive societal attitudes.

He said the FWMC had been striving to inculcate a similar attitude in the people to keep the city clean since its inception.

Awan said the company had a proactive role that was not restricted to monitoring. He said the FWMC had tasted some success in its efforts despite having a limited budget. Awan said the company had been widely praised for its efforts during Eidul Azha and the recent monsoon rains.

GCUF Environment Department Chairman Farhat Abbas said educational institutes could play a crucial role in raising public awareness in this regard.

He said the faculty would try to motivate students to stress the need to maintain cleanliness standards in Faisalabad.

He said the varsity would provide the FWMC with 50 volunteers to complement their awareness drives.

Abbas praised the company for taking several initiatives to keep the city clean. He said Awan had played a pivotal role in introducing an effective waste management system in Faisalabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2014.