City District Government Karachi (CDGK) and Shanghai Shun Gong Environmental Protection Limited Sunday signed an agreement to lift garbage and carry it to landfill site at 20 dollars a ton for the next 20 years and Letter of Intent (LoI) thereof issued to the company.
The agreement was signed by Qian Yu Lin, Managing Director of the company and Masood Alam EDO Municipal Services CDGK at a ceremony held at a local hotel. Nazim Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal, Chinese Consul General at Karachi Chen Shan Min and Naib Nazim Nasrin Jalil, besides DCO Javed Hanif, Town Nazims of Karachi, Chairman of City Council and others were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony Mustafa Kamal pointed out that present was the era of technology and the technology which was being used for solid waste management in the world's mega cities has been introduced here today because generation of 10,000 tons of garbage daily could not be cleared without technological use. However, he made it clear that with the use of technology no one working in the solid waste management system would be unemployed and rather employment and job for even scavengers is also ensured.
"During the next few months, the entire city will become clean", Nazim Karachi announced and said the city government has worked on the new system for the last one year inviting offers from companies having vast experience in solid waste management and five of them responded with offers including French, German,
Kuwaiti, Malaysian and Chinese besides a local company.
He said highest offer was for 64 dollars per ton while Chinese company gave an offer of 20 dollars per ton and its bid was declared successful. This company, he pointed out, has very vast experience and would be responsible for lifting house to house garbage and hospital waste and their safe transportation to landfill site.
He said that under the agreement the company would develop landfill site into a modern site besides constructing eight garbage transfer stations and one more landfill site.
He said the company would also be responsible to take steps for environmental improvement around garbage stations and transfer the garbage into vehicles in closed courtyard.
Mustafa Kamal described handing over solid waste management system to a company having a vast experience in the field, a revolutionary step which, he said, on the one hand would bring in an investment of 250 million dollars and on the other citizens would have the facility of lifting of their garbage and its removal in a secure and scientific manner, which will have good effects on the environment.
Nazim Karachi said the Chinese company would generate 560 MW electricity from the waste, which would be sold to KESC with city government to receive 15 percent income.
He said that privatisation of solid waste was part of our plan which was first introduced at local level and reached the present stage gradually. Under the agreement, he said, the company will manage the system without any raise in the amount for the next 20 years.
Mustafa Kamal said the company will lift garbage from major roads with the help of machines and with sweeping in the internal areas and practical stapes will commence after three months from today.
Company's Managing Director Ian You Lin said they are coming here with entire resources, paraphernalia, and technical staff. He said Pakistan and China are friendly countries and we will serve the people of Karachi in the light of our experiences so that Karachi is made the world's most beautiful city.
He informed that set-up was being established and company would take over charge of solid waste management by January 2008 and people of Karachi will feel a change.