Online Reporter
Rubbish collection in Harare has been problematical in recent years with large illegal dumps created by desperate residents and businesses and residents never knowing when a garbage truck will come by to collect their rubbish.
There are numerous problems, some of which are the fault of residents although most were the fault of Harare City Council and added to these there is the perennial problem of street littering and those sneaking out to the nearest public open space to dump their rubbish.
In August last year, Harare City Council appealed for help from the central Government, saying it could no longer cope with the rising tide of rubbish. A major part of the problem was the lack of functioning collection vehicles, the council having delayed replacement and expansion of its fleet although buying very fancy vehicles for senior officials.
President Mnangagwa declared Harare waste collection a state of disaster, a legal requirement so that the central Government could intervene in what has always been a municipal matter. The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works then organised some emergency blitzes, Chenesa Harare 1 and Chenesa Harare 2, to remove the dangerous illegal dump sites and see what could be done for street collections.
These were recognised as emergency programmes and everyone agreed that a sustainable solution was needed so that emergency work would no longer be required: Harare would return to the days when rubbish was collected on the scheduled days from each household and each business and from properly set out bins in public areas.
Geo Pomona, had already won the contract to manage and considerably upgrade the municipal rubbish dump in Pomona, converting it into an energy business that could derive extra sources of income instead of just relying on rates money.
In discussions, it officially expressed its interest in taking over the collection of waste, as well as processing that waste. The Government and the city council were interested and the Government then contracted Geo Pomona to extend its management of city waste by moving into collection.
The company assembled a modest fleet of 45 vehicles, far less than required for a total service, but enough to get started and earlier this year progressively moved the accumulated rubbish dumps in many areas.
Recently it has started street collections in some areas, taking over from Harare City Council.
After a couple of weeks of copying the Harare system, built up because collections were irregular, of hooting as trucks trundled down streets so residents would rush out with their bags and bins, it has set out timetables with specific days of the week allocated to each of the areas it is now serving.
Many residents have not heard about these schedules, despite the efforts to publicise them, but the word is getting around and it is likely that within a few weeks everyone whose rubbish is collected by Geo Pomona will know which day of the week to put out their bags.
That will improve efficiency since a collection truck will not have to continually make warning passes before collecting, but just move down the street picking up bags.
Geo Pomona may well want to build up responsibility by residents, to either pack their rubbish in bags, preferably sealed at the top, or put it out in bins that can be emptied.
Both methods would ensure that there are not piles of rubbish rotting on verges because they have leaked from boxes and torn bags. This will be particularly important in the next rainy season.
Harare municipality used, many years ago, to insist on bins with lids placed at each gate; it then allowed large tough bags which it supplied and then let residents do as they wished. It should be possible to insist on reasonable standards using bags and bins.
In time Geo-Pomona may want rubbish sorted. In many parts of Europe now householders are expected to sort their rubbish, the incentive being that the collection authorities or companies can process the sorted garbage into saleable products easily, so cutting costs.
In some cases, the garbage collectors make a profit, meaning that sorted garbage is collected for free, and that is a huge incentive.
But we can start by making sure our rubbish is easy to collect and that mess is not left in the street.
Sticking to a schedule will ensure that bags and bins are not left for hours or days on verges where stray dogs can attack them, or salvagers try and open them to see if they can find the bottles and other goods they recycle.
There have been other teething problems in the areas where Geo Pomona now collect, such as roads being missed out.
The company is probably going to need a specialist who can plan the most efficient routes that go past every property in the shortest time; this is more complex than it sounds as there is no universal formula that works, only a build-up of methods.
Meanwhile Geo-Pomona is building up its fleet, buying suitable vehicles from Sinotruck Howo. These have been ordered and presumably a delivery schedule has been set.
Considering Harare’s size and the number of trucks its needs, the city operations will dominate the national market for garbage trucks and there could well be a large enough demand for a single supplier with more and more assembly in Zimbabwe and even some manufacture of body parts now we are producing our own steel once again.
Design changes are possible since garbage trucks just have to be efficient, not that wonderful looking.
The changeover can only be positive, because Harare City Council had allowed its operations to sink so low. We hope that any staff that Harare may want to drop can be hired by Geo-Pomona, as there were people who did care even if they did not have the equipment and support their deserved.
The company will want its own culture of efficiency but that can be instilled in training.
Meanwhile, as the transfer of collection moves forward, both Geo-Pomona and the residents it is serving need to work together to make sure the new services are a lot better than what they replace and, in fact, reach the best practice global standards.
Peter Tanyanyiwa