LAHORE: The Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department has devised a holistic plan to implement a new model of waste collection in the province; as per the plan, the solid waste collected from door-to-door would be shifted directly to the dumping site.

This was disclosed in a meeting chaired by Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq on Friday; Punjab Local Government Secretary Shakeel Ahmed Mian and Additional Secretary Maria Tariq were also present.

During the meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s ‘Suthra Punjab’ programme was reviewed in detail and various suggestions were discussed for the implementation of the new model of sanitation in the provincial capital.

While addressing the meeting, the Minister said that garbage would be collected from every house under the supervision of the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), adding that instead of dumping garbage at different points, it would be directly moved to the dumper. He averred that the LWMC would provide waste bins in every house and twice a week, the garbage would be emptied into the dumper. He further said that the Chief Minister has prohibited piling of the garbage at different places and hence, now the garbage received from the houses would be transferred directly to the dumping site. “The new model would be implemented in the LDA housing schemes in the first phase,” he added.

He directed the LWMC to submit a plan within 24 hours. He pointed out that the garbage was often thrown in empty plots, which pollutes the environment and this practice should end. “Garbage should not accumulate at any place and it should be cleared according to a specific schedule,” he directed.

The Punjab Local Government Secretary directed the LWMC to prepare a presentation and said that an effective system for better delivery would replace the current sanitation system. During the meeting, it was also decided to monitor the cleaning operation through artificial intelligence.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024