Council recapitalisation in limbo

HARARE City Council recapitalisation programme under the $30 million facility secured from local banks is in limbo as the city is failing to bring in refuse and road equipment it bought owing to unavailability of foreign currency.

The city bought 30 refuse compactors from FAW Group Corporation and more pieces of equipment from other suppliers which include 10 skip trucks, 10 tipper trucks, three graders, one chip spreader, one jet patcher and 25 utility trucks.

The first nine refuse trucks were delivered with the supplier using its own resources, together with five rollers worth $546 000.

Efforts to bring the remaining 21 refuse compactors and other equipment have been futile. Harare had last beefed up its fleet of refuse collection trucks in 2010 and has not been able to provide proper service to the vehicles which operate for an average of 18 hours every day, thereby leading to frequent breakdowns.

Residents are now forced to dump waste on street corners.

Environment Management Committee chairperson Councillor Herbert Gomba confirmed the situation, saying other road equipment worth $8 million was bought, but suppliers were failing to bring the outstanding equipment because they were paid in bond notes.

“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has not been meeting its promises to give us $300 000 per week, they have failed thereby affecting our ability to serve our communities. I implore the Governor to play a major role to ensure this is prioritised,” he said.

“We as council are concerned now that if we cannot bring in the compactors and roads vehicles at this time when the equipment is needed most things will be worse. Only half of the 46 compactors we bought in 2010 are working, others require parts which in many cases, also need forex.”

Faw operations director Mr Patrick Masocha yesterday said his company was making efforts to bring the remaining trucks using its own resources.

“We are battling to secure foreign currency, but we are making plans to use our own resources to bring in the compactors,” he said.

Council believes if it can bring the 21 compactors they can help bridge the gap.

Government, in May, approved a request by Harare City Council to borrow $30 million to buy additional refuse trucks and equipment for road maintenance. The money is also set to be used to revamp parks and cemeteries, capacitate the city’s architect, waste management, Harare Municipal Police, traffic law enforcement and valuation, and estates, among other departments.