Vusumuzi Dube
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
BUSINESSES operating in and around the Kelvin West Industrial site are up in arms with a leather and skins company that is allegedly emitting a foul stench that other firms are failing to put up with.
The company is in the business of sourcing and drying cow hides for export. So strong is the stench that it fills the air from more than 500 metres from the premise where the hides would be sun-dried.
When a Sunday News crew visited the premises last week, the stench was strong along Khami Road where other businesses are located, and grew even stronger as one got closer to the warehouse where the drying takes place.
A supervisor at the company, Mr Manowa Chikono, said the owners of the business, believed to be foreigners, were away looking for new premises to continue with their business.
“It is true, the City Health Department visited us last week and instructed us to stop this business.
They said we needed to operate elsewhere away from other businesses owing to the strong smell the hides have been emitting. A hide takes one to one-and-a-half weeks to dry but because of the constant rains we have been receiving in the city these are not drying up, they have actually sucked in the moisture and are still wet causing this bad smell. We have stopped taking hides from Bulawayo, Umguza and Umvutsha abattoirs following the warning by the city council. This week (last week) we did not collect any,” said Mr Chikono.
The Environmental Management Agency (Ema) confirmed that they had visited the company.
“A company was inspected on 2 February 2023. On inspection it was noted that the company was drying treated hides using contakil on unlined surfaces, posing a risk of soil and groundwater contamination. The company was issued an environmental protection order to stop treating hides on unlined surfaces,” said Mrs Amukela Sidange the Environmental Education and Publicity Manager for EMA.
The agency said they issued the company an order to stop treating hides on unlined surfaces but said issues of odour, which have been the major challenge for other users of the area, had been referred to the Bulawayo City Council.
“We referred the case to the City Health Department to deal with the odour as it remains a public nuisance. It is not within our jurisdiction; we do not have an enabler to enforce,” said Mrs Sidange.
The premises where they are operating from have a large number of hides that are yet to dry up and are strewn all over the tarmac with other huge bundles covered with large tents ready for export. Several others are also stored in bundles in a warehouse.
“We opened in 2021 and we used to buy dried hides but the owners decided to dry them for themselves but the space to dry is within other businesses that are now being affected by the strong stench,” said Mr Chikono.
According to Mr Chikono, when the skins dry up, they are baled for export, with each bale stacked with 115 hides. He said the company dries 1 400 to 1 500 hides per month. He said they have taken note of the complaints.
“We have heard the complaints from our neighbours and we are waiting to clear our stock and find alternative places to operate from where we do not cause problems for others. We acknowledge that we have been causing problems,” he added.
The owner of Kelvin Tshisanyama, Mr Xolani Mathe whose business is close by said he was having challenges getting customers.
“Since this problem started, my customers no longer come to this place as I sell food, no one wants to eat in such a smelly place, and the customers simply leave when they sense the horrible smell. We are appealing to the city council to assist us deal with that business. It is affecting many people around,” he fumed.
A hardware owner also said he was having a torrid time together with his workers because of the stench.
“Our workers are struggling to work with the smell, these people are our neighbours but the smell is just horrible, even our clients are affected by this. We really wish something could be done to sort out this challenge we are facing,” he said. -@NyembeziMu
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