A formal agreement to hand over administrative and operational powers of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) to the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) on a 20-year lease was inked at Town Hall here on Saturday. Lahore DCO Ahad Cheema and LWMC MD Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry signed the lease agreement aimed at modernising and upgrading the city’s sanitation system. Under the contract, SWM’s machinery, workshops and staff would be handed over to LWMC on a 20-year lease. Around 10,000 employees will be handed over to the company on secondment. Lahore Division Commissioner Nadeem Hassan Asif said none of the SWM employees would be terminated after the change of hands. “Rather salaries of daily wagers will be increased, he said. “No new tax will be levied under the new system,”
Cheema said that the CDGL would be responsible to monitor the system and hoped that people would see the difference in a transparent procedure. The CDGL established the LWMC under Section 42 of the companies Ordinance 1984 for providing sustainable, efficient and improved waste management services in June last year.