Solid waste management: PM praises Maryam for visible improvements

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has commended Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz for bringing rapid and visible improvements in solid waste management across Punjab.

In a post on social media platform X, the premier said it is truly transformative improvement in solid waste management across the province. “In just eight months, a waste crisis in Pakistan’s most populous province has been turned into the world’s largest integrated waste management system,” he said.

Moreover, Punjab Minister for Information and Culture, Azma Bokhari, said that Maryam Nawaz’s Suthra Punjab Programme has earned not only national but also global recognition.

Following appreciation from the US Congress, international magazine Forbes has now also acknowledged the success of this landmark initiative of the Punjab Government, she said.

Azma Bokhari said that Maryam Nawaz is cleaning the entire Punjab “as if it were her own home,” and Forbes has recognized that she has resolved sanitation challenges that persisted for the past 75 years—within just a few months.

The minister added that the Suthra Punjab Programme has eliminated the divide between urban and rural cleanliness standards. “Previously, sanitation services were limited to upscale urban areas, but now the same quality of cleanliness is being delivered in villages as well,” she said.

Azma Bokhari further stated that Forbes has appreciated Maryam Nawaz’s environment-friendly policies, use of modern technology, and governance model. It has especially praised her digital governance framework for effectively curbing corruption.

She said that under the Suthra Punjab Programme, local industry has been given preference, resulting in the creation of 140,000 new jobs. Forbes has acknowledged that governments around the world are now looking to learn from Punjab’s model.

She said that Maryam Nawaz is serving Punjab with sincerity. This is why her work is being appreciated not only at the national level, but internationally as well.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025