KARACHI: The provincial steering committee of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) has decided to make payment in rupees, instead of the US dollars, to private contractors providing end-to-end garbage disposalservicesin three of the seven districts of Karachi division.

The committee also granted an extension of three years in contracts awarded to these private contractors in the Malir, West and Keamari districts of the city.

According to SSWMB, Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani on Saturday chaired the third session of the provincial steering committee of the SSWMB. The LG minister presided over the meeting in his capacity as the chairman of the committee.

The committee also approved the proposals that the contractors engaged for providing waste disposal services in the three Karachi districts will be paid their fee in Pakistani rupees instead of US dollars. The committee was told that the renewal of contractors would help reduce by 25 per cent the expense of waste disposal work in district Malir while the same expenditure would be slashed by 28 per cent in the case of West and Keamari districts.

The LG minister on the occasion was given a detailed briefing on the findings of a research study conducted on the waste disposal work in the three districts. The new contracts will ensure beefing up waste lifting and disposal worl< in these districts along with an effective monitoring system to oversee the waste management services. The committee also decided to float a tender to procure the services of a contractor in the East district.

A company will provide the same services in the district till completion of the tendering process. A proposal came into consideration to consult town municipal corporations in Karachi to propose a fee against waste collection work in residential, commercial, and industrial areas of the city to generate income for the SSWMB.

The committee approved a proposal to prepare an assessment and analysis report for waste disposal work in the Shaheed Benazirabad and Mirpurkhas districts.

The committee also authorised the selected sanitation services company to take care of the landfill sites in Sukkur and Hyderabad. The LG minister was informed that the tendering process was in progress for selecting contractors to manage Jam Chakro and Gond Pass landfill sites in Karachi.

The meeting was also attended by Additional Chief Secretary Local Government Syed Khalid Hyder Shah, SSWMB Managing Director Imtiaz Ali Shah, finance departments deputy secretary, Karachi`s additional commissioner-1, Shaheed Benazirabad mayor, Mirpurkhas additional deputy commissioner, local government department additional secretary, municipal commissioner Mirpurkhas. Mayors of Hyderabad, Sukkur, and Larkana attended the meeting via the video-link.