Accord signed to install refuse-derived fuel plant

RAWALPINDI, March 31: In what appears to be an encouraging development in Punjab keeping in view the ailing financial situation and increasing terror incidents, foreign investors here on Thursday signed an agreement with the authorities to install a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in Rawalpindi worth 10 million euros (around Rs1.2 billion). The provincial government allowed a private company – Waste Management Pakistan – to install the plant in the city for lifting and converting garbage into fuel. Representatives of the Punjab government through its urban unit, Public Health Engineering, were in the city to attend the meeting, as the idea to install the RDF plant was brought home by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif from Mashhad city in Iran which is famous for its cleanliness due to such plants. Director General Urban Unit Dr Nasir told Dawn that the contract to lift and recycle garbage had been given to the private company which was financed by German and Saudi investors. "The entire garbage materials generated in the city will be lifted and converted into fuel, gas and fertilizer through the RDF plant that will be installed at Losar near Adiala jail," he said. Under the agreement, the investors will pay Rs50 per ton to the district administration for the garbage. The city generates around 800 tons of garbage daily. The installation of the RDF plant in the city faced delay due to some disagreements between the two parties until the foreign investors threatened to quit the project in case they were not facilitated. Official sources told this reporter that the chief minister had taken notice of the issue and instructed the authorities to get the agreement signed with the firm in order to encourage investment in the province. "There were some rifts with the private company over the price and transportation of the waste products; however, the directives from the chief minister secretariat to accommodate the company resulted in the agreement," said an official who attended the meeting. According to chief executive Waste Management Pakistan Asif Farooqui, the plant was worth Rs90 million while the construction of a building and other necessary infrastructure will cost Rs30 million. "We will purchase lifters and hire labourers for operating the plant. After the plant is installed, there will be no garbage and other non-combustible items in the streets and commercial centres. Garbage is now a valuable commodity in the city," Mr Farooqui said. Consultant M. Osman Hanif told Dawn that the plant would be first of its kind in the country as the one installed in Peshawar was wound up before its operation.