10 recycling plants to be set up to convert garbage into energy: minister

LAHORE: Local Government Minister ZeeshanRafique said that 10 recycling plants will be established at the divisional level to convert the garbagecollected at the village and ward level into energy and compost, while the remaining garbage will be disposed of in landfill sites to meet modern requirements”, he said. He said this while addressing a press conference on Sunday.

The minister said that after the success of the first phase of the “Suthra Punjab programme”, the second and third phases are being launched simultaneously.

During the second phase, provision of equal facilities of municipal services in rural and urban areas will be ensured.

He said at the tehsil level and in rural areas, there will be deputed one sentry worker for every 250 houses who will be responsible for cleaning the streets, collecting garbage from houses and cleaning sewage etc. “To ensure this, the cleaning and sanitation system will be outsourced at the tehsil level. Garbage collected from houses and markets will first be transferred to temporary collection points” he said. The minister said that digital monitoring of the new sanitation system will be done in rural and urban areas.

He said that it will be made safe in all respects by acting accordingly so that the environment can be made human friendly. He said PMLN government has started a revolutionary programme like Suthra Punjab for the first time during the last 76 years besides recycling of garbage will create a new industry. The provincial minister said that 57,500 tons of solid waste is generated daily across Punjab.

“Municipal bodies have the capacity to collect only 18 thousand tons of waste, so the rest of waste is causing environmental damage every day. He said that picking up and disposing of leftover garbage is no less than a challenge. “To ensure this, “SAMA” agreements are being signed with solid waste companies across the province and within the next four months, the province will have a uniform sanitation system in rural and urban areas”, he pledged.

Local Government Minister ZeeshanRafique said that Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz has formed a committee headed by me for the restructuring of the new local government system.