Harare city council’s refuse collection trucks have been grounded owing to fuel shortages. The development raises fears of another cholera and typhoid outbreak in the populous capital.
Council spokesperson Michael Chideme said that the council is now using less than 16 refuse trucks to service 45 wards. Chideme had this to say:
Due to the prevailing fuel shortages on the market, we are unable to do our scheduled garbage collections. Today, 16 garbage trucks were deployed. They have since exhausted their daily allocations.
Efforts are being made to secure fuel. Once we are able to access fuel, we will deploy the vehicles to their daily duties. We regret any inconveniences that may arise as a result of non-collection.
In 2018, a cholera outbreak hit the capital and later spread throughout the country. The outbreak’s epicentre was traced to a contaminated borehole in the high-density suburb of Glen View. At least 55 lives were lost because of the outbreak.
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Even during the days when fuel was available the council was failing to collect refuse, they now want to use fuel shortage as an excuse.