Islamabad: Pakistan’s green and clean capital city is presenting a pathetic picture of neglect by its administrators and municipal authorities these days, as sanitary workers of the Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad recently observed five-day strike protesting non-payment of wages for last five months.

The city is divided into sectors, and the maintenance of Islamabad’s ‘G’ sectors (G-5 to G-14) is done through private contractors who hire daily-wage sweepers, mostly from the Christian community of the city, and pay them Rs12,500 (Dh293) monthly as salary.

Last Friday, while complaining about non-payment of funds by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) the contractors expressed their inability to pay their 1,000 plus anymore since the CDA had not paid them for the last five months — and there was no sign of any payment in near future.

The city’s sanitary workers went on strike that ended only Thursday on the assurance they would get their payment though for two months in a day or two and the rest later.

Despite the fact Islamabad got its first elected city government — Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI) — in 2016, the federal capital’s administrative and financial matters are largely looked after by the CDA and the authority is not ready to relinquish its powers.

The CDA says it is the Mayor’s responsibility to generate funds and pay these workers. The Mayor, meanwhile, says since he has no financial powers the MCI is merely turned into a rubber-stamp office and the CDA might continue with payment to these workers.

This tug-of-war between the city’s mayor and chairman of the CDA has resulted in piles of garbage and trash dotting the streets and markets of Islamabad.

Residents of Islamabad, particularly those living in G-5 to G-14 sectors have been facing Karachi-like situation for the last five days because of the strike by sanitary workers, sweepers and garbage collectors.

Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz has also moved the Supreme Court against denial of financial powers, but the CDA bosses with the support of the federal government are least interested in the uplift of the city or solution of the civic and municipal problems.

Some 1,500 sanitary workers on Wednesday staged a sit-in at the Melody Chowk reiterating they would not call off their protest unless their five-month salary is paid.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor of MCI Zeshan Naqvi, talking to Gulf News, regretted the bureaucratic mind set that is prevailing in the power corridors of the city’s administrative offices.

“The CDA and its officers on purpose want the MCI to fail as they are not releasing funds,” said Naqvi. Administratively, mayor is empowered but CDA the wields powers with regard to utilisation of funds, he said. The CDA labour leader Chaudhry Yasin is of the view that traditionally municipal affairs of Islamabad’s G-series are taken care of by private contractors. “These private contractors employ sanitary workers on daily wages and pay them around Rs12,500 monthly and in return CDA Sanitation Directorate releases funds to these contractors. However, for the last five months, private contractors have not been paid and in return they have stopped payment to these workers,” Ch Yasin said.