Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is battling to clear heaps of garbage which have been piling up in different suburbs and the Central Business District for more than a month as it is operating with half its refuse fleet.
Residents in some eastern suburbs have now resorted to dumping garbage in undesignated places which have become breeding grounds for diseases and vermin.
In western suburbs the situation is different as council contracted private players to collect refuse.
A Chronicle news crew yesterday visited selected eastern suburbs and observed that heaps of garbage continue to pile up in open spaces.
Garbage is also piling up in sanitary lanes in the city centre.
Sanitary lanes are designed to provide leeway for service vehicles such as delivery and garbage collection trucks but the situation in the city has become an eyesore.
Vermin that include rats, flies and mosquitoes breed in rubbish piles.
In Parklands suburb, plastic bags full of garbage line up some streets with residents saying council refuse collection trucks were last seen a month ago.
said council was failing to meet demand for refuse collection because it was operating with half its refuse collection fleet.
“We are having a serious garbage collection backlog.
Out of 14 refuse compactors that we have, only seven are on the road while three more will be back on the road by Tuesday to make them 10,” he said.
Mr Dube said council was working on fixing the other four, which require major services and that might take more than a week from now.
He said council is set to clear the refuse collection backlog by the end of this week.
Ms Daniella Smith of Parklands said garbage has been piling up outside her yard for weeks until she decided to burn it.
“Council hasn’t been collecting refuse for almost a month now.
My worry is that if it continues like this, we are likely to find ourselves in a compromising health situation,” she said.
Another resident, Mr James Shumba said: “I last saw a council refuse removal truck three weeks ago and heaps of garbage have been mounting in our sanitary lane.
Some residents are also dumping solid waste in storm water drains resulting in blockages.”
Ms Linnet Dube of North End suburb said council’s failure to collect refuse has resulted in people throwing litter in open spaces creating a health hazard.
She said illegal dumping continues to increase in the affected suburbs.
BCC recently issued a statement on its official Twitter page notifying residents that they would not be able to collect refuse in the eastern suburbs for a week.
Council cited the disruption in the service to a major clean up blitz in the city centre.
“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise residents and stakeholders that we will not be able to collect refuse for low density suburbs for the week starting Monday, 27 June 2022 to Saturday, 2 July 2022.
Refuse collection will resume on Monday, 4 July 2022 and residents are urged not to take out their refuse bins,” read the statement posted two weeks ago.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary for administration Mr Thembelani Dube said the prolonged disruption of service is now an issue of concern.
“As residents, it is worrying for us to note that council is not honouring its schedule.
In fact, we are aware that council had temporarily suspended refuse collection in the low-density suburbs to concentrate on the city centre, but that period has since lapsed but bins are yet to be emptied,” he said.
Mr Dube said what is worrying is that even in the CBD garbage is still piling up and garbage in some sanitary lanes has not been collected for months now.
He urged council to stick to its refuse collection timetable saying failure to do exposes residents to a heath disaster.
In terms of Section 83 (4) of the Environmental Management Act, illegal dumping of litter is a punishable offence liable to a fine not exceeding level three.
– @mashnets.
Online Reporter