BY TATENDA CHITAGU
THE country’s first urban settlement, Masvingo city — which is home to more than 150 000 residents — is being serviced by one refuse compactor, deputy mayor Wellington Mahwende has revealed.
Speaking at the handover of 4 600 tonnes of aluminium sulphate used in water purification and 100 refuse bins donated by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) and Christian Care, Mahwende said the local authority’s fleet was heavily depleted, which was compromising service delivery.
“Out of four refuse trucks, only one is functional. The others are broken down and old and we lack foreign currency to buy spares or new ones, since it may be cheaper to replace than repair them and they break down regularly,” he said.
Mahwende urged residents to be patient with council and avoid dumping rubbish at undesignated sites.
“You have to bear with us. We, however, make sure we do carry the litter, even during the night or on Sundays,” he said, thanking the two organisations for the donation.
“We thank Unicef and Christian Care for being pro-active, instead of waiting for diseases to break out so that they provide assistance. This donation is evident that the partnership between the city and other stakeholders is very important and the city is not on its own.”
Shepherd Munondo, the monitoring and evaluation officer for Christian Care, said they would always chip in, as and when they could, to compliment the efforts of the city fathers in ensuring hygiene prevails to prevent disease outbreaks.
