Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike
Senior Reporter
GEO Pomona Waste Management chief executive and executive chairman Dr Dilesh Nguwaya has urged Government to take decisive action against illegal street vendors in Harare, saying their activities are undermining efforts to clean the Central Business District through uncontrolled littering.
He made the call while giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Thematic Committee on Climate Change on waste management practices in the country and their implications on climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability, in line with the EMA Act and the National Waste Management Strategy.
The hearing at the New Parliament building in Mt Hampden yesterday was chaired by Senator Prisca Mupfumira.
“In terms of by-laws, Government needs to take decisive action, especially on vendors,” said Dr Nguwaya.
“We clean the town in the morning and sometimes during the evening, and we have seen vendors roasting maize in the middle of the town.
“To remove them, it is very difficult. If you go to town, you see Geo Pomona doing tremendous work cleaning the town. If you go during the night, you see vendors selling tomatoes, doing everything in the street; the work being done by Geo Pomona will not be recognised because of the vendors. Now we want Government to take decisive action to make sure those by-laws are put into action.”
Dr Nguwaya added that they need assistance from Parliament to ensure that by-laws were implemented urgently.
“We can see people being arrested for littering. People (vendors) must be removed from town. This is the capital city. We do not want vendors in town. Every important guest comes to Harare, and we see vendors roasting maize.”
Dr Nguwaya explained that although there was a Cabinet decision mandating Geo Pomona to start cleaning streets in the capital city, plans were underway to roll out the same project in other cities.
Implementation of the project in Kwekwe is now at an advanced stage.
“But as we mentioned before, there is a lot of politics everywhere. We gave the proposal to the City of Bulawayo two years ago and until now, we did not receive a reply.
“We have proposals with the City of Kwekwe (and) we are now in the final stages. So, I think next month, we will be in Kwekwe,” he said.
In Bulawayo, Geo Pomona has been engaging the town clerk since last year, but not much progress had been made.
“We even wrote a letter last year, but it was replied to, I think, after a year. We engaged them through the Ministry of Local Government, and we also wrote a letter to the ministry.
“My team drove to Bulawayo to engage them; they had a meeting, but there is nothing material coming from the City of Bulawayo.
“We don’t know, but we have the solution for the people of Bulawayo to make sure they will live in a good environment.”
Dr Nguwaya said the company’s growth in waste management was driven by hard work, resilience and doing “the right thing”.
He said Geo Pomona now employed more than 1 200 workers, up from an initial six, and operated a fleet of garbage trucks servicing Harare.
The Parliamentary Committee said it would work with Geo Pomona to strengthen legislative frameworks that support effective waste management and environmental protection.
