KARACHI, Aug 14: The city government’s plans went awry when it emerged on Thursday that the Chinese firm that was supposed to meet the deadline of launching a crucial solid waste management project in four towns on the Independence Day would not be able to do so any time soon.

Sources close to the city government told Dawn that the project had been put on hold indefinitely.

This is the fourth time that the deadline of initiating the key solid waste management project has not been met.

The Chinese firm, Shanghai Shen Gong Environmental Protection Company Limited, had won the contract of integrated municipal solid waste and hospital hazardous waste management project and signed an agreement with the city government in January this year under which the collection and disposal of solid waste would be its responsibility for a period of 20 years and it would get $20 for lifting and disposal of per ton garbage.

The firm got registered with the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan after forming another company, Pak S.S.K Environment & Energy Development Company Ltd, to start operations in Karachi and promised the city government that the project would get off the ground initially in Saddar, Jamshed, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Liaquatabad towns from Aug 14.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that the Chinese were extremely concerned about the overall political situation in the country and it was also one of the many reasons behind the delay in the taking over of the city’s solid waste management.

The sources said that the Chinese firm was reluctant to invest here under the agreement due to the fragile political and economic situation of the country.

The sources said that the company also failed to bring required machinery and vehicles for garbage lifting on time and just a couple of days back it had informed the city government about its inability to start garbage lifting.

They said that instead of bringing 100 machines to be used in the garbage collection process, the Chinese brought here only five machines and, therefore, the city government did not allow the commencement of operations in four towns.

The sources said that at a recent meeting, the Karachi district coordination officer opposed launching of operations by the Chinese firm from Aug 14 because he believed that the project would fail in the absence of the required machinery that the Chinese firm had promised to bring.

While the Chinese firm sought more time and promised to the city government that it would bring the required machinery within days to the city, no new deadline was set.

The Executive District Officer of the city government’s municipal services department, Masood Alam, told Dawn that the Chinese firm could not launch its operations from Aug 14 due to some “technical reasons” and it would take some more days to initiate the operations.

Sources close to Karachi Nazim Mustafa Kamal said that there was no plan to scrap the agreement between the Chinese firm and the city government.

“At the time of the agreement (in January), one dollar traded at Rs60 and the diesel price was Rs35 a litre. Despite a surge in diesel prices and continuing rupee depreciation against the dollar, the city government does not want to scrap the agreement because it is in the interest of the city and its citizens,” said a source.

The Chinese firm was first supposed to take over the city’s solid waste management on April 1.

No representative of the firm was available to offer comment.

According to the agreement signed on January 11, the Chinese firm is responsible for door-to-door collection of solid waste from all residential and industrial areas of the city and its disposal on designated landfill sites.

The city government will pay $20 per ton to the company for lifting and disposal of garbage. However, the city government will share 15 per cent of the total income, to be generated by the company through recycling of the waste.