KARACHI: Expressing concern over the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board’s (SSWMB) plan to lift sacrificial animals’ offal from only two districts during Eidul Azha, City Mayor Wasim Akhtar has raised the question as to who would lift the waste from the rest of the metropolis.
Speaking to journalists at the KMC head office on Thursday after chairing a meeting held in connection with the offal collection plan, he said that while the SSWMB, as its name suggested, was for the entire province, it had given contract for lifting the entrails from only two districts.
He said that while the SSWMB was being provided full budget, it had given contract to lift offal from two districts only while the rest of the metropolis had been abandoned.
However, he assured citizens that although the SSWMB had abandoned them, their elected representatives in the local bodies, despite having insufficient resources, would serve them and would ensure that all animals’ waste was collected and disposed of in a scientific manner during the Eid days.
He said that last year over 1.7 million animals had been sacrificed and this year, with an increase of between 10 to 15 per cent, nearly two million animals were expected to be sacrificed.
He said that offal collection points had been designated in different districts/towns and trenches had been dug in different districts to bury the entrails.
He said that municipal staffers would be used for collecting guts and wherever required additional staffers and equipment/machinery would also be hired for quick lifting and disposal of offal.
The mayor urged city councillors to be vigilant during Eid and monitor the situation in their respective areas and ensure that the staffers were working efficiently and the waste was being lifted in time.
He also urged the people not to throw animal guts in drains, sewers, etc, which would choke them.
He said such practices caused drains and gutters to overflow resulting in inundation of low-lying areas creating hardships for residents.
He said that complaints regarding offal collection could also be lodged at telephone number 1339.
Earlier, the mayor chaired the meeting that was attended by municipal commissioner Nawaz Nasim, DMC Central chief Rehan Hashmi, DMC East chief Moeed Anwer, Korangi district chief Nayyer Raza, Izhar Khan, Ghulam Farid, Aslam Afridi and others.
