Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo and Harmony Agere
THE United Nations yesterday said the Geo Pomona Waste Management facility offers a practical example of how the world body’s Sustainable Development Goals can be supported through real-world interventions.
A UN delegation led by the UN Resident Coordinator to Zimbabwe, Ms Rosemary Kalapurakal and including officials from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), toured the facility in Harare yesterday.
The tour was led by the Special Advisor to the President on Waste Management and Environmental Sustainability, Dr Dilesh Nguwaya, who is Geo Pomona’s chief executive officer and executive chairman.
After the visit, Ms Kalapurakal told the media that the project demonstrated how businesses could drive change and deliver transformation.
“I express my appreciation to the Chairman (Dr Nguwaya) because what we have seen today is an eye-opener,” she said.
“The Sustainable Development Goals are what all member states of the United Nations signed up to, so they are not my sustainable goals, they are our Sustainable Development Goals, and what I have seen here is how business can make transformation happen.”
The UN Resident Coordinator commended the waste management company for turning around the fortunes of what had once been an eyesore, noting that it has also generated employment and supported youth empowerment.
She added that the project is consistent with Vision 2030.
“We saw a very powerful video of a toxic waste site being transformed into what we see around here, state-of-the-art technology with Zimbabwean entrepreneurship, Zimbabwean workers, Zimbabwean youth.
“That is a vision for the future, that is exactly in line with what the Government has said is in the Vision 2030 for Zimbabwe to become an upper-middle-income country.
“And what I and my colleagues from the United Nations have seen here is that there is no shortage of talent, no shortage of ingenuity to make that a reality,” she said.
The visit was also meant to congratulate Dr Nguwaya on his appointment as Special Advisor to President Mnangagwa on Waste Management and Environmental Sustainability.
Explained Ms Kalapurakal: “Your role, Mr Chairman, is going to be so important to make sure that environmental sustainability is part and parcel of the economic growth trajectory of this amazing country, so that whatever you do takes into account those considerations from the get-go and that people see that managing the environment sustainably is actually key to prosperity and inclusive and sustainable growth.”
Dr Nguwaya reaffirmed his commitment to diligently carry out his duties as Special Advisor, and expressed appreciation for the UN’s acknowledgement.
“It’s a big role in the highest office, so my task is to make sure that I advise the President correctly in terms of waste management (and) environmental sustainability.
“We need also to advise him (President Mnangagwa) correctly, (my portfolio is now) not only to do with waste or to do with the Geo Pomona, but advise at a global level,” he said.
Following the tour by the UN delegation, Dr Nguwaya also led Namibia’s Kavango East region Governor Hamunyera Hambyuka and the country’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe David Asheelo Thomas on a tour of the facility.
The Namibian Governor said he had been charmed by the facility and was looking forward to having the same in his country, adding that an MoU was on the cards.
“Zimbabwe are our neighbours, we are very close, you even go by road so if you can go by road what is wrong then for us to emulate what we have seen here today.
“It is a process we have to follow with the MoU then we are ready to go and move to implement what is here.
“I’ll be happy if this type of company comes to Namibia, more specifically to the Kavango region…if it comes there, I’ll be happy,” he said.
