LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has set a seven-day deadline for ensuring adequate staffing and machinery under the Suthra Punjab programme and directed officials to remove underperforming private contractors and activate self-operated services within a week.
Chairing a special meeting on the province’s sanitation arrangements, the chief minister sought a comprehensive micro-plan for cleanliness across Punjab and a progress report on the programme by next week.
The meeting reviewed the performance of sanitation companies, waste collection and transportation systems, workforce availability and field monitoring arrangements.
The chief minister directed the authorities to implement the Suthra Punjab beat system across the province within seven days. She ordered warnings for sanitation companies delivering less than 80 per cent performance in any tehsil, while those scoring below 50pc should be removed.
Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz also ordered the termination of non-performing private companies and the activation of self-operated sanitation services within a week.
Emphasising the rights of sanitation workers, she directed officials to ensure payment of their outstanding dues and agreed that the arrears should be recovered from the defaulting company.
She said workers should not be made to suffer for contractors’ unpaid liabilities and called for a legal mechanism to ensure timely payment of their salaries.
The chief minister also directed authorities to ensure cleanliness in rural areas at least on alternate days and remove accumulated garbage from villages.
She sought weekly, detailed reports on human resources, beat-level machinery and field monitoring officers in every tehsil to assess operational performance.
The meeting was informed that assistant commissioners and the relevant Suthra Punjab in-charges in each tehsil would be held responsible for failures in sanitation services.
Anti-littering squads were operating in every division of the province and had conducted 264,000 visits, during which warnings were issued and awareness raised about violations of sanitation standard operating procedures, the meeting was told.
The chief minister reviewed cleanliness reports from various tehsils and commended Chakwal Deputy Commissioner Sarah Hayat and her team for the district’s performance.
The meeting also considered a proposal to introduce a dedicated mobile application for Suthra Punjab workers.