Harare City Council intends to purchase new refuse trucks amid revelations that the City has thrown in the towel on the recovery of 15 refuse compactors that local authority bought from a local supplier four years ago but the trucks were never delivered.
Yesterday the City of Harare advertised an invitation for tenders in the media for the supply and delivery of refuse compactors however, the advert did not specify how many refuse compactors the local authority needed.
In 2016 the Harare City Council purchased 15 refuse compactors at a cost of US$3.1 million from FAW Zimbabwe (Mass Breed Investments) but the trucks were not delivered. A councilor who spoke to CHRA on conditions of anonymity said “we have been crying for those 15 trucks which were purchased 4 years back but are not coming.”
Ms. Lauretta Marembo the Director of the Young Volunteers for Environment (YVE) said, “The ignoring of the past procured trucks which were not delivered is a clear indication that there is corruption.”
In August 2020 CHRA petitioned Parliament of Zimbabwe over the matter but there hasn’t been traction over the issue.
The inaction by the City on the issue raises more questions than answers, especially when the City has sought to buy new trucks without reclaiming the purchased ones that were not delivered.
Despite the government mantra of fighting corruption, the issue of the non-delivered refuse trucks has not been an interesting issue in its anti-corruption agenda.
Currently the City of Harare has (14) fourteen functional refuse trucks to service forty six wards of Harare of which most of them have surpassed their life span.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 194(1) (a) and (b) call on for “efficient and economical use of resources.”
CHRA calls on the government to refocus its energies by taking action on the 15 non-delivered refuse trucks as this is a root cause of waste collection challenges in Harare.
Source: Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
