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| A bin at Cnr Simon Muzenda and Josiah Tongogara |
Kimberly Kusauka
MASVINGO – Masvingo
Urban Ward 8 councillor Against Chiteme, who is the chairperson of the Health, Housing and
Environmental Services Committee said council is incapacitated to collect
refuse in the city.
Chiteme said, the council was struggling to have a viable fleet that can timely collect
refuse both in the Central Business District (CBD) and residential suburbs.
Refuse
collection problems in Masvingo will persist for the foreseeable future as Masvingo
City Council’s refuse compactors fleet continues to deteriorate.
“Our
Health department has been incapacitated. Most of our trucks are down and being
worked upon but we have a target to secure another refuse compactor this year.
We are very committed to provide quality service delivery and I am sure we
would have acquired a new refuse compactor before year, ” said Chiteme.
Bins
have been going for days without being collected in the CBD, with litter being
strewn all over in front of buildings, posing a health risk.
Mayor
Collen Maboke concurred saying he was disappointed as city father to see
pictures of waste circulating on social media purporting to have gone for days
without being collected.
“I
have seen pictures on WhatsApp of litter bins at some business complexes which will
be full to capacity. This is very bad for our city and doesn’t give a good
picture. We should make sure that refuse is collected more efficiently so we
are working tirelessly to make sure that our refuse compactors are up and
running,” said Maboke.
Sometime
ago, council flighted a tender advert seeking to privatize refuse collection
but all of the five tenders which were received failed to meet the
requirements.
Acting
Town Clerk, Eng Edward Mukaratirwa revealed that the local authority will soon
flight another tender and that they were working towards securing another
refuse compactor.
“We
received five responses to the tender of procurement but unfortunately all
responses didn’t meet the requirements. However, we are preparing another
tender and it will be out soon,” said Mukaratirwa.
Council
has a refuse collection schedule but one or two refuse compactors which will be
up and running are failing to cover enough ground.
Refuse
collection has been on the low in the city and this has left residents with no
option but to dump waste at undesignated points.
