The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has completed feasibility work on solid waste management (SWM) project of the Karachi City District Government (CDGK) and is likely to release around $50 million in the first tranche by end of this month.
Sources in CDGK told Business Recorder on Friday that after green signal from the Bank about release of the tranche the city government would hire a consultant with sufficient expertise in solid waste disposal work.
"The CDGK has worked out feasibility of the project with an okay report and ADB is likely to give a response by month-end", they said. "We would then make an international call for hiring a consultant, local or foreigner, to go ahead with the project", they added.
After hiring a consultant, the CDGK would issue tenders for completion of the project. The bidding process is likely to start some time in the beginning of 2008, they said. "We have received expressions of interest (EoIs) from many local and international firms, but we will be able to issue tenders towards the start of 2008."
Sources said that so far companies from the United States, France, Norway, China, Iran, Malaysia and some from Pakistan have expressed interest to undertake the project.
They said that the city government would expect the successful bidder to complete the project within two years of its startup date. "If work on the project starts in the first quarter of 2008, we would expect it to go not beyond the beginning of 2010", sources said.
In the first tranche of the ADB credit the CDGK would build five garbage transfer stations (GTSs) so that the garbage packed on modern methods could be transferred to landfill sites, they said.
"Each garbage transfer station would be established at a cost of around $9 million", they said. Sources said that the five stations would be built at Mewa Shah, Orangi Town, Korangi Town, Mehmood Abad and Gulshan-e-Iqbal. In Gulshan-e-Iqbal, decision was yet to be finalised on the two proposed sites.
Of the second tranche of ADB loan, sources said the money would be invested to upgrade the two landfill facilities at Surjani Town and Hub River Road with a new landfill site to be constructed at National Highway in Razzaq Abad.
"CDGK would establish a new landfill site at National Highway besides upgrading the existing two which are located in Surjani Town and Hub River Road", they added. They, however, expressed concern that the people were selling out to scavengers from the informal sector their "combustible" garbage, like rubber, paper, tires, clothes, plastic, wood etc which are a prerequisite for the energy generation.
"For generating energy we must have garbage with an extensive calorific value or in other words combustible material but people are prone to sell this type of wastes to the informal sector", sources said, adding that "what they leave for us is the inert material which can not be used for the energy generation purpose".
It must be recalled that the CDGK is working on the SWM project under a comprehensive strategy to keep the city clean and build a power plant, which would generate 30 to 60 megawatt electricity using 1000 tons of garbage per day.
Karachi produces 10,000 tons of garbage daily therefore the CDGK has planned to sign agreements with different firms which could arrange for lifting of garbage from each home with modern machinery and then make it to transfer to the landfill sites after packing it by modern methods. The city government has also procured machinery of a worth Rs 700 million to re-organise SWM on modem scientific methods.