Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru- Following a suggestion by Mayor Hamutendi Kombayi to turn to scotch carts to ease the refuse collection burden, city council has resorted to hiring of private contractors to help the community as part of efforts to improve refuse collection efficiency.
The move has seen council inviting interested members of the community with trucks and complete refuse compactor trucks to submit bids for possible hiring in solid waste management department.
In a public notice issued by the Acting Town Clerk Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe last week, council said it is looking forward to hiring trucks from members of the public for refuse collection services.
“Following challenges experienced in the collection of solid waste, City of Gweru invites interested members of the community owning trucks ranging between 3.5 tonnes and 10 tonnes and complete refuse compactor trucks with a carrying capacity ranging from 19 to 21 cubic metres to submit their bids to the Procurement Manager for consideration and possible hire of their vehicles for solid waste removal,” read the notice by Chikwekwe.
He said the designated areas for collection of solid waste include all high, medium, and low-density areas citywide.
“The project will involve solid waste removal from households through door-to-door collection system at designated central collection points where the refuse will be transferred into council’s refuse compactor trucks,” further read the notice.
Submission for tenders has since been opened.
“Completed bids must be enclosed in a sealed envelope endorsed on the outside health services-solid waste removal-community based organisations (truckers)’ and must be deposited in the tender box at the Chamber Secretary’s department on or before the end of business on September 16, 2022,” added the notice.
Over the past months council’s refuse collection equipment has been down, a move which caused residents to resort to other mechanisms of waste management.
Last week Mayor Hamutendi Kombayi said he was going to engage the Chamber Secretary on the issue of adopting use of donkey pulled scotch carts to collect refuse in residential areas.
He added that a robust approach was needed to deal with refuse collection in the city.
Last week Kombayi made a suggestion for the local authority to allow firewood sellers to conduct business freely while in return, they would help council ferry solid waste using their scotch arts. The suggestion set tongues wagging among community members with some describing it as a sign of unprecedented desperation by a council.
Liquid and solid waste management have and continue to be challenges haunting most cities and towns with majority of them operating with depleted fleets thereby hampering their efforts to ensure sanity prevail in both residential areas and the Central Business District (CBD).
