Suburban
THE City of Harare has collected garbage from some parts of Greendale following several months of not providing the service in the suburb and other parts of Harare.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
Residents had their refuse collected last week on Friday and on Monday this week as council battles to effectively collect waste from residential areas, business premises and public places due to a shortage of refuse collection compactors.
Council recently announced that it had bought 10 new refuse compactors and took delivery of six while the other four and 10 tippers were on their way. So dire is the situation in Harare, some councillors such as Councillor Scott Sakupwanya of ZANU PF (Ward 21 Mabvuku and Tafara) have bought refuse trucks to service their areas.
At the moment about five to eight refuse trucks are on the road and some collections are slowing taking place in some suburbs of Harare such Avondale in Ward 7 although the few trucks are prioritising city centre collections. In Borrowdale residents had to fix one refuse truck which has started collecting garbage from Ward 18.
Collections also recently took place in Southerton and Mbare among other suburbs.
Greendale residents who spoke to Suburban confirmed that their garbage was collected from Knowetop Drive and along Coronation Avenue.
A resident from Knowetop Drive said council collected eight bags from him.
“They were patient,” he said.
The Greendale resident is the unfortunate thing was that the waste collectors were not hooting to notify residents that they are in the area.
“My gardener was at the gate and he saw them.
“That is when he rushed to get the bags,” he said.
Another Greendale resident said the compactor stopped and collected garbage on several houses along Coronation Avenue.
Across town in Ward 16 in Sentosa, residents are contemplating dumping uncollected rubbish at Mabelreign district office because they have gone for several months without any collections.
Sentosa residents said they had gone for two months without refuse collection while some are planning to engage private refuse collectors.
A Westlea resident, also in Ward 16, asked about the whereabouts of the new compactors are as they have gone for almost three months without collections.
“It’s now nearly three months of no refuse collection in Westlea.
“Should we organise a boycott of rates for us to be heard?” asked the Westlea resident.
Another resident called on Harare West Member of the National Assembly Ms Joana Mamombe to intervene.
“We are now calling for the involvement of our MP. It is a hopeless situation.
“We are paying for refuse collection yet no such service is available,” said the Ward 16 resident.
Ward 16 Councillor Denford Ngadziore said council was facing a number of operational challenges and power fights at the expense of service delivery.
“We are yet to be called for a proper meeting since the March 26 by-elections.
“Committees are supposed to meet at least once a week and a full council is supposed to take place once a month,” he said.
Cllr Ngadziore said councils work through the committee systems and the previous committees and full council meetings were nullified by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works hence the resolutions from those meetings were also a nullity.
Suspended mayor Jacob Mafume and Enock Mupamawonde on one hand and acting mayor Stewart Mutizwa have been involved in a fight over the control of Town House.
The infighting at Town House was brought to the fore again last week when Mafume chaired a special council meeting saying he had got an execution order on the High Court ruling barring Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo from seeking to replace him.
Mafume said he was entitled to carry out his duties as substantive mayor pending the appeal by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works against the High Court ruling.
But Minister Moyo told Suburban his Ministry will deal with the chaos at the City of Harare where there is infighting as to who should be in charge at Town House.
Minister Moyo’s warning follows the chairing of a special council meeting on Monday for the allocation of committees by Mafume. Mafume is on suspension as he has faces allegations of abuse of office at the courts.
