ISLAMABAD: The sanitation directorate of Capital Development Authority (CDA) has said instead of hiring machinery on rent, it will procure new machinery for cleanliness and garbage collection.

According to CDA officials, machinery worth millions of rupees will be procured for garbage collection and disposal.

Sources in the civic body said the CDA was about to hire on rent machinery for one year at the cost of around Rs500 million, which was more than the previous year’s contract estimate.

However, Deputy Director General (Civic Management) Sarwar Sindhu denied these claims.

He said a propaganda campaign was being launched against him because of his initiatives in the sanitation directorate, adding that the CDA would purchase its own machinery, instead of renting it, to develop its assets and recruit around 1,000 staff.

Official says permanent staff to be hired, outsourcing to be discontinued

He said until CDA procures its own machinery, tenders had been floated to rent equipment temporarily, adding that the authority had recently received a bid which was 28pc above the estimated cost.

He said the bid had not been accepted yet and was referred to the Contract Wing which would determine whether it could be approved or not.

“The decision is yet to be made, but propaganda has already been started by mafias who do not want to see the end of outsourcing of contracts,” Mr Sindhu said, adding in the past, the CDA paid millions of rupees to contractors.

“Now on the direction of the CDA board, we are going to end the outsourcing process and will purchase our own machinery and will directly hire employees. But people with vested interest at the behest of previous contractors are running a campaign against us,” he said.

Meanwhile, another official, on condition of anonymity, said there was a need to look into the rate estimated by the civic body for the temporary contract to rent machinery as it was much higher than the previous contract.

Earlier, in February this year, the CDA board had scrapped the garbage collection contract after terming it “faulty”, adding that it was awarded in a fraudulent manner.

The board headed by CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed took the said decision after receiving an inquiry report which pointed out that the contract was awarded to an ineligible contractor in a fraudulent manner and on the basis of fake documentation.

The board after cancelling the contract, referred it to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which is currently conducting an inquiry into the matter.

The sanitation directorate was part of Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) when the said contract was awarded. After the directorate was put under the administrative control of CDA, the contract was cancelled.

An inquiry conducted by the civic body revealed that the contractor could not arrange machinery as per the agreement and started work on the basis of a letter of intent. Besides, he was awarded contract on the basis of experience letters which were allegedly fake.

Earlier, the CDA would clean the city through its own employees and a contractor. The contractor managed to clean G-6, G-7, G-8, G-9, G-10, G-11, I-8, I-10 and highways while other parts of the city are handled by the civic authority’s own employees. After cancelling the said contract in February this year, the CDA is handling the issue through its own arrangements.

However, now CDA on the basis of the board’s decision has decided to purchase its own machinery and equipment, and directly hire sanitation employees for city and urban areas.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2021