The government has ordered the City of Bulawayo to partner with Geo Pomona for waste management, abruptly ending the council’s own search for a service provider.
Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe issued the directive in Bulawayo on Thursday, where he was accompanied by Geo Pomona chief executive Dilesh Nguwaya and United Nations resident coordinator Rosemary Kalapurakal – the UN’s most senior official in Zimbabwe.
Garwe told Mayor David Coltart and Town Clerk Christopher Dube that Geo Pomona would take over waste collection in the city with or without the council’s consent.
He said Cabinet had approved the roll-out of Geo Pomona’s Harare model to all cities, effectively scrapping Bulawayo’s competitive procurement process.
“There is a precedent in terms of the law that has been set. Cabinet made a decision that a private project be implemented in the city of Harare,” Garwe said.
“Once that private project has become successful, we replicate it here and you have no authority whatsoever to resist a Cabinet decision. Please take note.
“If it becomes difficult for your town clerk to implement the directive I am giving now, that directive will be implemented from central government and we’ll just give you our position and we move forward.”
He added: “Mr Mayor, we are engaging Geo Pomona. If you cannot, you tell us right away and we’ll do it and move forward. We don’t want to continue wasting time.”
Bulawayo had already invited companies to submit expressions of interest for waste management and received bids from several local firms.
The process stalled after the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) said the city must first conduct a feasibility study.
Some council officials fear the delay was deliberate to clear the way for Geo Pomona.
The government’s intervention comes as Bulawayo is battling serious air pollution caused by the burning of waste at Ngozi Mine, its main dumpsite near Cowdray Park and Richmond. Thick black smoke from the dump regularly blankets nearby suburbs, including Luveve and Emakhandeni.
Garwe said President Emmerson Mnangagwa had taken a personal interest in the crisis.
“We came here with clear instructions from my principal that the Ngozi Mine situation is now of great concern to the President and solutions must be provided now,” he said.
“What is of concern now is the existence of irregularity, the existence of disorderliness, the existence of lack of cleanliness in all of Bulawayo and the existence of Ngozi Mine, which is now polluting the air.
“In this beautiful City of Kings and Queens, we have had several meetings to replicate exactly what is happening in Harare.”
In Harare, the government forced the city into a 30-year deal with Geo Pomona, with the company reportedly charging up to US$40,000 a day, at least US$2.7 million a month, for waste collection.
When Harare said it could not afford the bill, the government said it would redirect part of the city’s devolution funds to Geo Pomona.
Garwe told Bulawayo officials that Geo Pomona is a “tried and tested institution in terms of waste management” and there was no need for another bidding process.
He said the city could still carry out a feasibility study to determine the scope of its waste system, but central government has already decided that Geo Pomona should start work as early as October.
Meanwhile, Nguwaya said Geo Pomona would prioritise employing locals, including people living at Ngozi Mine who survive by scavenging through the waste.
More: ZimLive
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