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Senior Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has stopped collecting refuse in some parts of the city, sparking fears of a looming health hazard, a development viewed as an early sign of failing to deliver by the newly elected MDC-T councillors.
The Town Clerk, Mr Middleton Nyoni, posted a notice yesterday in the Press, saying refuse collection in the low density and parts of high density suburbs has been suspended.
He did not specify when the situation would be rectified.
“Council sincerely regrets to announce that there is an interruption in the refuse removal service in the low density and parts of the high density suburbs until further notice,” said Mr Nyoni without giving reasons behind the development.
The development follows reports that council has not been collecting refuse in the eastern suburbs for the past three weeks.
Refuse collection in the eastern suburbs is supposed to be done weekly and fortnightly in the western suburbs.
Mr Nyoni said the affected residents should keep uncollected garbage within their yards instead of dumping it.
“Residents are encouraged to keep the city clean and desist from dumping refuse in open spaces. Uncollected refuse should be kept within household properties and will be collected when refuse collection resumes. The inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted,” said Mr Nyoni.
He could not be reached on his mobile phone to explain the reasons behind the move and was reported to be locked in meetings.
The Mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, was also not reachable on his mobile phone for comment.
However, a council official who declined to be named said the suspension of refuse collection was triggered by the expiry of a contract awarded to a private operator who was providing service to the low density suburbs.
“You would recall that council had hired a private contractor to collect refuse in the eastern suburbs and parts of western suburbs around the city centre such as Makokoba,” said the official.
“That contract has since expired and council is working on reviewing it. It is not all suburbs that are affected. We urge residents to be patient while this issue is looked at.”
Contacted for comment, residents’ associations said council should be careful in dealing with the issue as it has the potential of causing a health disaster.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairman Mr Winos Dube said the council should improve its communication systems to avoid creating suspicion.
“No communication was made to us to that effect. We do not know why council has taken that decision and what challenge it is facing,” said Mr Dube.
“We need to understand what is causing this interruption to avoid speculation. This time around we are keen to see this city develop and we do not want to be fighting each other. Council must fully explain this to us.”
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) programmes manager Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu also said it was risky for council to stop refuse collection.
“We do not have much information to enable us to comment on this issue. We thought we were past the era of having uncollected refuse. I was in Entumbane yesterday and people had taken their bins out but we noticed that they were not collected by the end of the day,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Uncollected garbage is a breeding ground for bacterial parasites that cause diseases such as cholera. Some residents have a tendency of burning refuse, causing air pollution.
Uncollected solid waste also clogs the storm water system and tends to create a repelling stench and generally becomes an eyesore.
The local authority has 13 refuse trucks and requires a fleet of about 21 to fully service the city.
Online Reporter