Sindh government, World Bank to collaborate on solid waste management

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and the World Bank's Country Director for Pakistan, Patchamuthu Illangovan, have agreed to work together to make Sindh Solid Waste Management Authority (SSWMA) more effective, a statement issued Friday from Chief Minister House said.

This decision — which also comprises introducing a change in the cropping pattern to improve rural economy — was taken during a meeting between Shah and Illangovan at the CM House. Also in attendance were Naheed Shah, the chairperson of Sindh's Planning & Development (P&D) Department, and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister (PSCM) Sajid Jamal Abro.

Speaking about how the SSWMA has been established, the chief minister said it was a new body and needed capacity building to work scientifically and with best efficiency.

The World Bank country chief, said he would send solid waste management experts to the provincial government.

With the help of the P&D, a detailed plan would be worked out to improve its capacity in order to not only improve its efficiency in solid waste disposal and management but also help it become a self-sufficient organisation, Illangovan added.

In the first phase, it would start work in the divisional headquarters and, later, in the district.

Shah said the province's growers and farmers were engaged in traditional high-deltaic, low-yield crops. "I want to introduce major change in cropping pattern, in which low deltaic crops can be grown with high yield," he said, adding that it would improve rural economy.

The CM said a separate cropping system should also be developed for small growers. "We have to improve their income by switching them over to orchard-cum-cash crops," he said.

Illangovan noted that he would bring global agricultural experts to Karachi with him and that they would prepare a plan to implement in phases.

In this regard, Shah said the provincial government was working for mother-child health and nutrition programmes in different districts, including Thar. It has produced some good results, he added.