KHULNA, June 6: Administrator of the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Nazrul Islam Manju on Saturday inspected the progress of the under-construction waste recycling plant at Solua and expressed optimism that the facility would be fully operational by November-December this year.
Officials of the KCC, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), representatives of the consulting firm, journalists and local dignitaries were present during the visit.
Speaking to reporters after the inspection, Manju said KCC was preparing to launch the waste recycling plant shortly, describing it as the first project of its kind to be implemented by a city corporation in Bangladesh.
He said the project was being jointly implemented by LGED, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and KCC, adding that it would bring a transformative change in solid waste management in the city.
Replying to another question, the KCC administrator said the Prime Minister had discouraged the practice of storing waste in open spaces and instructed authorities to build dust- and waste-free cities.
To implement that directive, KCC plans to introduce segregated waste collection from households and ensure that collected waste is transported to the recycling centre within the same night, he said.
"If the initiative is successfully implemented, waste will be converted into valuable resources," Manju said.
He also informed that a portion of the plant, which will produce fuel oil from plastic waste, is scheduled to begin operations on July 1.
The integrated solid waste management project is being implemented under the "Second Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement Project" financed by the Government of Bangladesh and ADB and executed by LGED. The project also includes the KUET approach road development component.
To ensure effective operation and maintenance of the facility, preliminary discussions have already been completed with consulting firm Waste Concern for an operational partnership. Representatives of the firm visited the site on Saturday to assess the current status of the plant before finalising an agreement.
Among others, Project Director of the Urban Development Project Md Hamidul Haque, Team Leader Md Shafikur Rahman, KCC Chief Executive Officer Rajib Ahmed, Secretary Md Reza Rashid, Waste Management Officer Engineer Md Anisur Rahman, Executive Engineer Sheikh Md Masud Karim, Managing Partner of Waste Concern Maksud Sinha, former BITAC Director General Dr Ehsan, and Mahbub Brothers proprietor Md Mahbubur Rahman were present during the inspection.
