admin
Midlands Bureau
Gweru City Council has refloated a tender for private refuse contractors, amid revelations that only one person had successfully responded to council’s initial advertisement.
The cash-strapped local authority is struggling to collect refuse as most of its refuse trucks are grounded.
In an interview, Town Clerk Mrs Elizabeth Gwatipedza said the council was forced to re-advertise after only one private contractor turned up.
She said the council’s fleet was grounded and they were now seeking private players to do the job.
“When we initially advertised late last year, people did not respond and so far we have only engaged one private contractor who is not doing what we agreed,” she said.
“We still need many private players to collect refuse on our behalf. We need to improve on our service delivery, but at the moment we are grounded hence the reason why we are seeking to partner private players to do this job.”
Mrs Gwatipedza said the local authority’s refuse collection fleet was no longer reliable and was constantly breaking down.
She said most of the trucks were old and needed replacement.
The town clerk said they were looking at engaging private contractors in every suburb.
“We are saying people with private trucks, at least five tonnes, can apply to council,” she said.
“They will then be given a contract and dates on which they will be collecting refuse in their respective suburbs and depositing it at our dumpsite.”
Online Reporter