The Solid Waste Association of Pakistan (SWAP) held an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the prevailing situation in the backdrop of the outbreak of coronavirus across Pakistan and extended its complete support to the government in fighting this deadly pandemic.
"The root cause of this pandemic is lack of hygiene and cleanliness," said Jamil Asghar Bhatti, chairman SWAP, while addressing the SWAP's Executive Committee attended by representatives from the Sindh, the Punjab, Balochistan, and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The executive committee expressed its commitment to offer all out support voluntarily to the government in providing spray, fumigation and cleanliness campaigns throughout the country especially in far-flung areas and towns where the waste management services were lagging due to the capacity of the local municipality, according to a statement.
Major cities such as Karachi and Lahore are also now failing to provide proper waste management services due to lack of capacity in their systems, the statement added.
"We feel that it's our duty to step up to the call of the day and offer ourselves as the frontline fighters against this dangerous threat," the meeting participants said.
The meeting was attended by SWAP office-bearers including Atif Javed, regional chairman Sindh, Zafar Iqbal, regional chairman Punjab, Tahir Mahmood, regional chairman Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hashim Khan, regional chairman Balochistan, and Naveed Mir, regional chairman Azad Jammu and Kashmir.