Zimbabwe’s RBZ gives city $600,000 to import refuse compactors

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) donated US $600,000 to Harare City Council to import the remaining 21 garbage compactors.

Compactors have been in South Africa since last year as the council failed to raise foreign currency to bring them into the country.

The Council purchased 30 garbage compactors from car manufacturer FAW Group Corporation for US $3.1 million.

It also purchased various pieces of equipment under a US $30 million loan facility from local banks for capital restructuring.

FAW has already delivered nine garbage trucks and 10 dump trucks using its own resources and the US $300,000 received from RBZ.

The trucks will be deployed in the zones and will be managed by zone teams.

The city officially declares that trucks belong to residents and that the community must monitor their use.

Yesterday, the adviser to the chairman of the Environmental Management Committee, Herbert Gomba, thanked the RBZ for using foreign currency.

“We appreciate that the meetings held between the RBZ and the city produced the foreign currency needed to bring into Zimbabwe part of the refuse equipment which was stuck in South Africa for nearly 12 months now,” he said.

“Though the efforts are appreciated we call upon the RBZ to release more so that all of the equipment can be brought to Zimbabwe. This call is meant to ensure service delivery is improved in Harare, diseases are controlled through timeous interventions from the local authorities.”

Harare recently reinforced its fleet of garbage trucks in 2010 and was unable to provide proper service to the vehicle.

Each truck runs an average of 18 hours a day, resulting in frequent breakdowns. The city earlier this year ordered a batch of 10 dump trucks, which were purchased at the same facility.

The tank trucks are intended for the collection of garbage cans that are found in high places of waste products such as Copacabana, Market Square, Fourth Street, government buildings and other key points of the city, including Mbare, the market where the city is struggling to collect refuse.

Residents in several suburbs have created their own illegal dump sites, as the council fails to pick up trash on time, exposing residents to illness.