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Address by President Mnangagwa at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Geo-Pomona waste-to-energy site in Harare yesterday
It is my pleasure and honour to have been invited to tour and officiate at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Pomona Waste-to-Energy flagship project for the City of Harare and the surrounding areas.
This project serves as testament to my Government’s commitment to seeing communities transform to world-class standards, where residents enjoy the ambiance of modern built environments.
It also marks the beginning of a new era in the restoration of our Sunshine City, distinguished by clean environments and friendly communities.
The journey to Vision 2030 and realisation of the aspirations under our National Development Strategy is multi-pronged.
To this end, my Government welcomes the participation of the private sector stakeholders towards accelerating our country’s economic growth and the provision of world-class services.
The Geo-Pomona Waste-to-Energy Project highlights the confidence investors have in the conducive business environment which has been fostered by the Second Republic.
Further, it attests to the positive results that can be derived from mutually beneficial partnerships between the public and private sectors.
It is commendable that under the Build-Own-Operate and Transfer joint venture model, the project will see the construction of a waste-to-energy plant which will produce 22 megawatts of electricity.
Once on the national grid, this energy output will go a long way towards augmenting our national energy mix.
I congratulate and commend the Board and Management of Geo-Pomona (Pvt) Ltd for this innovation and complementing Government efforts in the energy sector.
Well done. Your decision to invest in this sector, is much appreciated.
My Government is committed to creating employment and empowerment opportunities for women and the youth.
I am pleased to note that this Geo-Pomona Project has a staff complement which includes this important demographic.
Furthermore, through this project, waste is now a valuable commodity that will provide throughput to the plant, while improving overall sanitation and hygiene in the City of Harare.
The undesirable landfills, including the resultant ground and air pollution, should now cease to be a public, health and environmental challenge.
More importantly, the conversion of waste into energy remains a critical component of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and thus, an important intervention with regards climate change mitigation.
Meanwhile, the envisaged benefits to be generated under this project must give impetus to all parties in the project, such as the Environmental Management Agency, to consolidate existing activities and build capacity with regards to ensuring sustainability in waste disposal and management.
At all levels, let us remain conscious of risks associated with waste and pollution.
These include those relating to the health of communities, degradation of the natural ecosystem, threats to food security and climate change.
As such, highly efficient waste-collection practices, environmental control systems and appropriate legislation, including by-laws, must be enforced across our local authorities. Indiscriminate dumping and littering should never be tolerated.
I challenge all citizens to equally play their part as stewards to a clean and healthy environment. We must reject filthy environments and dirt in our communities.
This is not who we are as Zimbabweans.
Ladies and Gentlemen; Over the years, I have observed that our once beautiful infrastructure in cities and towns has fast been deteriorating.
This has seen potholes on our roads; erratic water supplies and poor street lighting, among other challenges. Collectively, we must address these matters.
I take the opportunity of this event to call upon Harare City Council and all local authorities to scale up the mobilisation of financial resources to develop modern infrastructure befitting the prosperous and empowered upper middle-income status.
The transition to Vision 2030 and development of world class cities requires seamless unity of purpose and greater collaboration as we undertake citizen-focused and mutually beneficial programmes and projects.
The old ways of doing business should now be a thing of the past. Let us restore the dignity and well-being of our communities. The culture of quality service delivery and putting the people first must be cardinal principles of our public sector.
On its part, my Administration remains committed to nurturing clean environments and minimising incidences of diseases, while enhancing the aesthetics of all our communities.
I am enthused that the National Clean up and Beautification Programme is continuously being entrenched into our culture as Zimbabweans. However, more can still be done.
I have observed with satisfaction that stakeholders in the private sector, community groups and individual citizens have integrated the clean-up day into their annual work calendars. I commend this development and urge all players to consistently observe the clean-up calendar event as we strive to make cleanliness our way of life.
It is my expectation that the milestones attained to date should be celebrated and consolidated.
I have no doubt that the momentum will be maintained while also roping in more stakeholders, including small to medium enterprises and vendors.
After all, access to a clean environment is a fundamental basic human right and is the lifeblood towards achieving sustainable socio-economic development.
In conclusion, I once again congratulate Geo-Pomona Waste Management (Pvt) Ltd for the transformation of this facility, which was previously an eyesore, into a promising modern and clean infrastructure. This project must emerge as a flagship waste to energy project that can be replicated in other parts of our country.
I wish you great success as you accelerate the implementation of the project.
Meanwhile, I challenge the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and City of Harare along with the investors to remain focussed towards the speedy completion of this project.
With these remarks, I have the honour to declare the official commencement of the Geo-Pomona Waste to Energy Project.
God bless you all.
God bless Zimbabwe.
I thank you.
Online Reporter