Gweru City Council staff and the SLB team on a tour of the dumpsite in Mkoba
Tinaani Nyabereka
GWERU – City of Gweru has revealed that plans are being made to purchase new water pumps and refuse collection trucks as a way of reducing years of service delivery backlogs.
Speaking at a service level benchmarking (SLB) preview meeting at council offices, Town Clerk Elizabeth Gwatipedza said work was underway to secure new pumps and refuse equipment in order to increase water supply and improve waste management in the city.
“Currently we are working on acquiring a new pump to improve our water supply in the city as we are currently not pumping water to some suburbs. We draw most of our water from Gwenoro Dam but due to pumping challenges, we are not producing what is enough.
“So work is underway to acquire pumps to increase our water supply. The pumps cost a lot; we need a big budget because one pump goes for approximately $850 000. We urge residents to effectively contribute by paying their monthly bills so that our services can become better,” said Gwatipedza.
She also touched on the problems being faced with waste disposal, saying the city’s 15 hectare dumpsite was no longer capable of sufficiently handling the growing needs.
“As for the dumpsite, there is need for maintenance because of the amount of waste disposed there. For us to get a new dumpsite, we need $1.5 million. We purchased a bulldozer to help in maintenance work and we have since got involved in recycling work. We have up to seven companies such as Delta that are helping us to recycle plastics and bottles. This has helped to reduce the load at the dumpsite,” she said.
The SLB review team toured the water treatment facility at Gwenoro, the dumpsite as well as the Cambrishire sewer plant, with recommendations that areas that needed urgent attention include road signage, drainage and the high costs of waste management.local
