By Brighton Chiseva
Masvingo councilors seem clueless over the progress at Cambria Farm landfill which was prematurely commissioned last year but is yet to start operating as council continues to give excuses over the delay.
This came out during a full council meeting held in the council chambers on Monday (October 29) where it was said the local authority failed to purchase necessary equipment needed to allow the landfill to work due to financial challenges.
The deputy mayor and Ward 5 Councillor Daniel Mberikunashe asked the relevant committee if the landfill was working saying the councilors should be told the truth so that they do not lie to residents.
“We want the relevant committee to tell us the truth on Cambria Farm. Is it working or not? If it’s not please tell us the truth so that we know what to tell residents. We have been telling them that the project was completed and its working,” said Mberikunashe.
The chairperson for the Health, Housing and Environmental Services Maxwell Madhuna said he was told that the project was stalled due to financial challenges to purchase the required machinery to start working.
He said they enquired and discovered that the compactor cost around US$700 000 and council was not in a capacity to part away with that money to purchase the compactor.
“We asked the management to enquire on the prices of the compactor that is needed at Cambria farm. We were told that it cost around seven hundred thousand dollars and we cannot afford that at the moment.
“We however resolved that council buys a Bulldozer and Roller which is around US$300 000,” said Madhuna.
Ward 2 Councillor Benson Hwata in whose ward the old Runyararo West Dumpsite is located said council was not serious on the matter and said it was supposed to be given top priority ahead of any other project.
“The issue you have raised here is a very sensitive one and no one should be laughing here. As we speak now people are in smoke since morning. We need to treat this as a matter of urgency and moving from the old dumpsite should be top priority.
“If we delay people will die. Do we not have residents to serve? No one here understands the situation because we don’t stay there and I think I should take you all with a lorry so that you see what I am talking about,” fumed Hwata.
Ward 10 Councillor Sengerayi Manyanga weighed in and said if purchasing of the required equipment was taking long then they were supposed to have temporary solutions to the challenge. He suggested that they fence off the Runyararo west dumpsite and put security to monitor those who start fires.
“We need to have a temporary solution and I suggest we fence off the old dumpsite and put our municipal police there to guard. Currently they are guarding Cambria landfill but there is nothing there. Those who want to scavenge for plastics will be allowed to enter with strict warning from the security guards,” said Manyanga.
He went on to say there were squatter camps in the dumpsite saying it was becoming a harbor for criminals who ply in Victoria Ranch and Runyararo West suburbs.
In a video circulating on social media, none of the alleged scavengers commented on the Monday fire saying the fire just erupted from the ground and said they survive on collecting plastic so they could not burn them down.
