HARARE Municipality has unveiled a comprehensive waste collection programme aimed at improving the local authority’s efforts to restore its Sunshine City status.
The initiative, to be implemented in partnership with the government and Belarus, would see the deployment of 52 brand new tractors equipped with a range of attachments to facilitate multi-purpose operations.
The tractors will be used to collect waste, clear drains and maintain public spaces and are equipped with front-end loaders, backhoes, lawn mowers and trailers, making them multi-purpose machines that can be used for a variety of tasks.
Speaking during the state of the city address last week, Harare mayor Jacob Mafume said waste management remains the city’s major challenge.
“Our collection efficiency is being hampered by a shortage of plant and equipment as we are operating an average of 15 compactors against an ideal 45 compactors and working closely with the central government in these agencies, arriving on the emergence solid waste management programme guided by Statutory Instrument 140 of 2023, we implemented Operation Chenesa Harare,” he said.
Mafume said the programme was designed to ensure that every district and ward has a compactor and a tractor to facilitate waste collection.
“The beauty of our tractors is that you can affix a front-end loader, a backhoe, a lawnmower and a trailer, it will be multi-purpose [to provide] water where there is no water and trailers to collect the refuse.
“It will be multi-purpose, so that is the approach … and we will make sure that the residents are also monitoring the use of this equipment for the benefit of their particular ward, so we can go and see the other equipment. These are brand new from repeatable suppliers,” he said.
Mafume said it was important for the community to be involved in the programme, stating that residents will be responsible for monitoring the use of the equipment and ensuring that it is used for the benefit of their particular ward, citing the success of similar initiatives in agriculture.
The council has acquired 72 brand new tractors of varying sizes, from 80 horsepower to 220 horsepower, which can pull a trailer train.
He expressed gratitude to the government for its support in the initiative, noting that the partnership is a key aspect of the programme’s success.
Source | NewsDay
https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200027732/harare-moves-on-waste-headache
