Islamabad Capital Territory

Islamabad : ReNews Pakistan
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has issued a Letter of Acceptance to a Turkish company for the launch of a new waste collection and cleanliness management system in Islamabad, with operations set to begin in the capital’s rural areas before being expanded to urban sectors.
The new system is expected to be formally inaugurated by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on October 13, with the first phase aimed at addressing longstanding waste collection problems in rural Islamabad.
CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf, Member Environment Abdullah Khurram Niazi and representatives of the Turkish company, operating through the Joint Venture of Atlas Pak Waste Management Company, held a meeting at CDA Headquarters to review preparations for the launch.
During the meeting, company representatives gave a detailed presentation on their operational plans, deployment arrangements and preparations for commencing services. The CDA chairman directed the company to begin operations at the earliest possible date to provide relief to residents of rural areas, stressing that there would be no compromise on service delivery.
Since the Turkish company secured both the urban and rural packages, the CDA has decided to prioritize rural Islamabad. The urban package will be implemented at a later stage, while the CDA will continue managing waste collection in urban areas through its existing machinery and staff in the interim.
Under the new system, waste collected from rural areas will be transported to the transfer station in Sector I-11 before being moved to the Losar landfill site in Rawalpindi.
The CDA also plans to introduce waste segregation at the transfer station. Officials said a recycling facility is being planned as part of the broader waste management strategy, including the proposed use of recovered plastic waste in the production of manhole covers.
Officials said residents of rural Islamabad are expected to see a significant improvement in cleanliness services from next month. The initial deployment will include 103 vehicles and more than 1,300 uniformed workers assigned to waste collection and related operations. The designs and colours of the vehicles and staff uniforms have also been finalized.
The project has received particular attention from Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who has been monitoring efforts to improve municipal cleanliness and waste management services in the federal capital.
The Turkish company secured the contract after submitting a bid of approximately Rs18 billion for both urban and rural packages for a four-year period.
At present, rural areas of Islamabad lack a comprehensive waste collection mechanism. The CDA carries out secondary garbage collection only intermittently, leaving residents in several areas without regular disposal services.
Officials said the absence of a proper collection system has resulted in residents disposing of household waste in open spaces and drainage channels. The decision to start the new system in rural areas was therefore taken to address the most immediate gaps in waste collection services.
The urban waste management package will eventually also be handed over to the same company. Until then, the CDA will continue operating its existing urban cleanliness arrangements with hired machinery and its own workforce.
The award of the contract followed a lengthy bidding process initiated by the CDA in July. During the technical evaluation stage, the Turkish company was initially disqualified, but the CDA subsequently restored its bid after the firm challenged the decision.
The company’s bid was ultimately determined to be the lowest, with a difference of around Rs380 million compared with the competing bid. Another joint venture challenged the CDA’s decision before the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA). After several hearings, however, the matter was decided in favour of the CDA.
The new system is expected to introduce a more structured waste collection, transportation, segregation and recycling mechanism in Islamabad, with the rural rollout serving as the first major phase before the services are extended across the urban areas.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on the final day of his participation in the United Nations General Assembly session, assured Pakistani business leaders that the government would provide full protection to their investments in the country and extend all necessary facilities to them.

On the occasion, investors from Potohar, Malik Ghulam Abbas and Raja Razaq, informed the prime minister that they were prepared to invest around Rs1 billion in the construction of a state of the art five star hotel in Islamabad.

According to the investors, the hotel project would be completed in approximately two and a quarter years.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accepted the investors’ request and agreed to their invitation to lay the foundation stone of the proposed five star hotel.

The government’s assurance regarding investment protection and facilitation comes amid efforts to encourage private sector investment and promote new business projects in the country.

Islamabad | ReNews Pakistan
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has proposed a series of amendments to rules governing high rise buildings, industrial consumers, steel furnaces and electricity theft, seeking public and stakeholder feedback on the proposed changes.

Under the proposed amendments, owners of buildings requiring dedicated transformers with a capacity of more than 500 kVA would be required to pay grid-sharing charges. Under the existing rules, ground plus three storey buildings are excluded from the high rise category and are therefore not subject to such charges. The proposed amendment would link the applicability of grid-sharing charges to the requirement for a transformer exceeding 500 kVA.

NEPRA has also proposed allowing industrial consumers at a single location to obtain up to three electricity connections or increase their load. The facility would be subject to technical feasibility and available capacity at the existing grid station. The combined load of all connections would be capped at 15 MW, provided that all connections fall under the same tariff category.

Consumers using more than 5 MW would be required to bear 100% of the grid sharing and transmission line costs. The proposed charge is Rs8.948 million per MW, while consumers would also bear 100% of the land cost, estimated at Rs855,000 per MW.

For loads exceeding 15 MW, a dedicated grid station and associated transmission line would be required. However, if a consumer initially pays grid sharing, transmission line and land costs and subsequently obtains a dedicated connection, the proposed framework would allow the previously paid amounts to be refunded. The proposed system would also apply to commercial and bulk supply connections.

NEPRA has proposed separate connection requirements for steel furnaces. For loads of up to 1 MW, consumers would be required to bear the cost of dedicated transformers, an 11 kV distribution feeder and rehabilitation expenses. For loads above 1 MW and up to 2.5 MW, dedicated transformers along with a dedicated 11 kV feeder or rehabilitation charges based on actual costs would be required. For loads above 2.5 MW and up to 5 MW, dedicated transformers and an 11 kV feeder would be mandatory.

The regulator has also proposed extending the period for issuing detection bills in certain electricity theft cases. Registered consumers involved in cases such as tampered or fraudulent meters, alteration or freezing of meter load profiles, software tampering, reversal of meter readings through Bluetooth devices and security breaches could face detection bills covering up to 12 months.

Under the proposed mechanism, detection bills would be calculated on the basis of load rather than past or future electricity consumption. For domestic consumers, the detection period would remain limited to six months. For consumers in other tariff categories, bills covering up to 12 months could be assessed based on the quantity of electricity theft and the available evidence.

The amendments proposed by NEPRA are currently proposals and would be finalised after consideration of feedback from the public and relevant stakeholders.