City commissions waste equipment

Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Harare City Council on Tuesday commissioned 10 skip trucks, which were bought under the $30 million loan facility accessed from local banks for recapitalisation, while foreign currency shortages have affected the delivery of outstanding 21 refuse compactors.

The city bought 30 refuse compactors from FAW Group Corporation for $3,1 million and some of the trucks were delivered, together with five rollers worth $546 000.

The city also bought 10 tipper trucks, three graders, one chip spreader, one jet patcher and 25 utility trucks.

FAW operations director Mr Patrick Masocha bemoaned foreign currency shortages, saying as the manufacturer they had the capacity to supply even in excess of what Harare ordered.

“The challenge is the foreign currency aspect to remit to our parent company,” he said.

“As a subsidiary, there are certain laws which govern us. They do not just bring in units to Zimbabwe because of risk issues.

“If we get the allocation like today, it will take us two weeks of logistics to bring them here.”

Mr Masocha said his company used its own means to ensure that it supplied 15 units, adding that once the foreign currency shortage was resolved, the outstanding units will be made available in no time.

Harare Mayor Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni said the city was happy to cater for some of the residents’ waste management needs.

“We collected the first batch of compactors which are now in the service of the city,” he said.

“Today, we are receiving 10 skip trucks. We have another 21 compactors which we are still to pay for.

“We will be appealing further to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for the necessary resources to complete the transaction.

“We are not on top yet. So, as we equip and retool our waste department, we are getting closer and closer to meet our residents’ expectations.”

“The skip trucks are for the collection of skip bins which are in high waste generation points like Copacabana, Market Square, Fourth Street, Government buildings and other key points around the city, including Mbare, the market place where we have been struggling to collect refuse.”