Polythene bags to be banned in Punjab

Lahore : Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar presided over a meeting at his office here on Monday in which the performances of Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) and cleanliness arrangements in different cities were reviewed.

The Chief Minister expressed his displeasure over ineffective arrangements of cleanliness in Lahore and other big cities and directed that performance should be improved further.

On his direction, the decision was made to run a special cleanliness the campaign in Lahore while the meeting also decided to impose a ban on polythene bags across the province of Punjab.

The Chief Minister directed that special attention should be paid to the cleanliness of cities and lamented that the presence of solid waste is deplorable despite the money is provided for its disposal. He said that work should be done in an organized manner to improve the cleanliness arrangements. The presence of heaps of garbage on the roads of the provincial capital is a question mark on the performance of concerned departments, he said. I need results and cleanliness should be visible.

He made it clear that the officers and officials failing to perform will be held answerable. He said that an awareness campaign should be run to educate the people about the importance of cleanliness. He directed to expedite work on the waste-to-energy project.

The Chief Minister also directed to constitute a high-level committee under Law Minister to present comprehensive recommendations for imposing a ban on polythene bags. The legislation will also be done in this regard.

Law Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja, secretaries of local government and energy departments, Commissioner Lahore, special secretary (finance) and others attended the meeting.