…new ZW$ 208 m landfill awaits government approval
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru- City Council has revealed that plans are now underway to relocate the Woodlands dumpsite to a new site along Gweru-Matobo road near Cambridgeshire this year (2023).
Speaking to TellZim News on January 18, Gweru Council Public Relations Officer Vimbai Chingwaramusee said modalities are now in place to relocate to the new site.
She added that an estimated ZW$ 208 million is needed for the completion of the new dumpsite and much of the ground work had already been done.
“As council, we are optimistic that relocation of the Woodlands dumpsite is expected to take place this year. The site is moving to along Gweru-Matobo next to our Cambridgeshire Sewer Treatment plant.
“Everything is now ready though we now wait for a few administrative works which are being handled by the Ministry of Lands. It is our prayer that the relocation will be done on time,” she said.
She added that, as a result of the Urban Expansion programme, it was no longer safe to continuously dump waste near residential areas.
“As a local authority we have seen that over the past years, urban expansion has affected the wellbeing of people those in Woodlands and surrounding areas.
“It’s no longer safe for people to continue living near a dumpsite as it poses serious health problems to the community,” she added.
Over the past years, the Woodlands site has posed a lot of health hazards with residents and those in surrounding areas complaining over the disposal and burning of toxic, acidic and harmful chemicals.
Woodlands Phase 2 residential area however came into existence some 7 years ago, while other reports point to the fact that the residential area was constructed when the dumpsite was already functioning.
As a result, the residential area was believed to be illegally established according to council standards despite Gweru city council and Vungu Rural Council later on signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to formalize the area as well as providing services such as water and refuse collection.
However, Gweru Council has maintained that according to its developmental master plan, residential areas are no longer going to be built closer to dumping sites or sewer plants.
Efforts to get a comment from Midlands Provincial Agricultural and Rural Development director Melinda Mangwenzi on this development were fruitless as the director couldn’t be reached on his mobile by time of writing.
City of Gweru in 2021 announced plans to decommission the Woodlands dumping site by 2023 to pave way for Mkoba 21 housing project.
A total of 784 beneficiaries bought residential stands in Mkoba 21 in 2014 and the housing waiting list now stands at more than 40 000 people.
Former Gweru Mayor ward 2 councillor Josiah Makombe pledged that despite inadequate resources, the illegal dumpsite was going to be moved.
Woodlands phase 2 resident Pupurai Makore said patience has grown thin over the issue of the dumpsite.
“If waste is burnt at this place, you won’t like the place trust me. The smell which comes from the site is very toxic. We inhale all sorts of toxics and it takes days to turn the fire off if rubbish is burnt.
“Our greatest fear remains that of children, they don’t choose were to play as they go about picking dangerous objects, tins and needles. It’s just scary,” he said.
