Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) has given assurance for credit facilities to the Chinese firm to help launch the solid waste management project of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK).
HBL Chief Representative Mohammad Aslam, in an interview with APP, said on Saturday that Shen Gong Environmental Protection Company Limited had recently held meetings with the senior official including head of the corporate sector of HBL Seema Kamil and "Habib Bank offered their services for this mega project".
"The negotiations for the project is in progress" he said, adding the HBL expressed the desire that it would not only encourage the Shanghai based company for launching the project in Karachi, but ready to provide financial assistance if it desired to implement the project in other cities as well.
The Chinese firm as per agreement signed the other day in Karachi would be responsible for door-to-door collection of solid waste from all areas of the city and its disposal on designated landfill sites.
The agreement is the outcome of the efforts of City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, who is eager to introduce the state of the art civic facilities to ensure best sanitation in the city.
The Nazim also visited China at the invitation of the Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng the previous year, and in a meeting, Shanghai Municipal government extended co-operation in solid waste management, improvement in urban transport and city planning. The company will absorb the existing staff of the CDGK, besides bringing necessary technical and managerial manpower and machinery from China.
The technical experts of the company visited Karachi a number of times to prepare a comprehensive and most suitable plan after examining the actual needs of the city.
The company is determined to make the best use of the municipal waste and also plans to generate electricity at later stage that would help overcome the power shortage in the city.
Both Shanghai and Karachi are enjoying the status of sister cities since 1984 with the objective to strengthen the bonds of cultural, economic, trade and commercial relations. A visible change is expected in the civic life of the Karachiites after the launching of this gigantic project. The agreement will remain effective for 20 years after which the company will hand over the task to CDGK.