Punjab to End Waste Companies Over Dirt

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has set a 15-day deadline to ensure improvement in cleanliness across the province. She also ordered the termination of waste companies facing complaints over unsatisfactory cleanliness, with self-operation to start in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan.

The chief minister was chairing a meeting to review the performance of the Suthra Punjab programme. She expressed concern over dust and dirt on roads across the province. She ordered daily washing of main roads, and directed authorities to impose fines on those found littering roads after cleaning. Penalisation for dumping garbage in vegetable, fruit, grain and other markets was also ordered.

Waste companies face termination in five cities

The decision to terminate the services of the waste companies is the sharpest part of the meeting. Under self-operation, the province will run cleanliness work directly in the five cities named, rather than through the companies now under fire. That shift puts district administrations under direct public scrutiny to prove they can do the job better.

Targets were set in the meeting for ensuring adequate human resources and machinery in every district. The chief minister ordered the cleaning of villages every alternate day. She instructed deputy and assistant commissioners to hold weekly meetings with field monitoring officers, and ordered the formulation of Key Performance Indicators to assess them.

She also ordered timely payment of salaries to sanitation workers in every locality. That order matters because sanitation staff are the workforce on which the whole programme rests. Late pay has long been a complaint in civic services, and it undercuts morale on streets that need daily attention.

The chief minister sought details from all deputy commissioners regarding machinery required for sanitation, along with a comprehensive record of savings achieved through self-operation. The DCs of Multan, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Hafizabad, Muzaffargarh and other districts presented their reports. She directed them to physically verify the equipment in their districts, rather than rely on paper claims.

The participants also discussed imposing fines on owners of vacant plots where garbage is found. That proposal targets a familiar sight in Punjab’s towns: empty plots turned into dumping grounds, which then breed disease and drag down whole neighbourhoods.

Why Suthra Punjab is under pressure

Suthra Punjab is the provincial government’s flagship cleanliness programme, and its record has already faced questions. The Anti-Corruption Establishment probed alleged irregularities in Suthra Punjab, a reminder that large civic contracts attract scrutiny over money as well as results. The chief minister’s latest orders can be read in that light. Termination threats and self-operation are a way to show that contracts will not protect poor performance.

The programme also sits inside a wider debate about how Punjab is governed. Maryam Nawaz invited French investment in Punjab, pitching the province as a place where services and infrastructure can improve. Clean streets are part of that pitch. A visitor or investor who sees dust, litter and uncollected waste will doubt the rest of the promise.

Public health is the deeper stake. Uncollected waste breeds flies, rats and disease, and it hits low-income neighbourhoods hardest. Daily road washing and alternate-day village cleaning, if actually delivered, would change daily life for millions. The test is delivery, not announcements, and the 15-day deadline gives residents a clear date to judge by.

Road safety and civic order also connect with the same district machinery. 464 people died in Punjab road crashes in October, a figure that shows how much depends on district administrations doing basic jobs well. Cleanliness, road safety and enforcement all run through the same deputy commissioners now told to verify equipment in person.

What happens next

The 15-day deadline is the first test. Residents in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan will be able to see whether self-operation brings cleaner streets, or simply changes the name on the contract. The weekly meetings between commissioners and field officers are meant to keep that pressure on.

The second test is money. The chief minister has asked for a record of savings from self-operation. If direct operation costs less and works better, the case for extending it will grow. If it costs more, or if machinery proves short, the province will face hard questions about its decision.

The third test is fairness. Fines for littering and for dumping on vacant plots must fall on real offenders, not on residents who have no collection service in the first place. A cleanliness drive that punishes people while failing to collect their waste will lose public support fast.

For now, the message from Lahore is plain. The province will clean its streets in 15 days, or the companies and officers responsible will face consequences. The streets themselves will show whether that promise holds.

Frequently asked questions

What did Maryam Nawaz order on cleanliness?

She set a 15-day deadline for improvement, ordered daily washing of main roads, fines for littering and market dumping, alternate-day village cleaning, and timely pay for sanitation workers.

Which cities move to self-operation?

Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan will move to self-operation after the termination of solid waste management companies over unsatisfactory cleanliness.

How will officers be assessed?

Deputy and assistant commissioners must hold weekly meetings with field monitoring officers, and Key Performance Indicators will be formulated to assess them.

What did the chief minister ask about machinery and savings?

She sought details from all deputy commissioners on machinery required for sanitation, plus a comprehensive record of savings achieved through self-operation, and ordered physical verification of equipment.

Will owners of vacant plots face fines?

The meeting discussed imposing fines on owners of vacant plots where garbage is found, as part of the crackdown on dumping.