adminLocadia Mavhudzi Midlands Correspondent
The cash-strapped Gweru City Council has said it is spending more money on hiring private vehicles to collect refuse, which is not sustainable. Gweru city council town clerk Ms Elizabeth Gwatipedza said they resorted to hiring private refuse trucks as the council’s eight refuse compacters were all obsolete and non-functional.
“We have a challenge in terms of refuse collection and we have resorted to hiring private trucks, which we pay $9 500 per every 40 hours of service,” she said.
“All the eight refuse compacters, which were used to have are currently down and obsolete as some of the compacters had served the council for over 20 years.”
Ms Gwatipedza said they realised that the situation was not sustainable, but they had no option.
“While outsourcing is not sustainable, there is nothing we can do until we purchase our own equipment,” she said. “We cannot stop collecting refuse as that would pose more challenges and a health hazard to the communities”
Ms Gwatipedza said the local authority had so far procured a new refuse compacter, but the supplier had not yet delivered it.
Meanwhile, Gweru city council is set to relocate KwaMutasa dumpsite in Woodlands Park due to the development of an urban housing development.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter