Bindura Municipality has taken a leaf out of the capital’s book, dispatching a delegation to the Geo Pomona Waste Management facility in Harare to benchmark against Zimbabwe’s most ambitious public-private sanitation project.
The visit comes as the Mashonaland Central provincial capital grapples with its own waste management deficits, a challenge that has historically drawn criticism from residents and civic groups.
While Bindura does not face a crisis on the scale of Harare’s former dumpsite, local youth groups and ratepayers have long complained of uncollected refuse and a lack of modern infrastructure.
During the tour, the Bindura team witnessed first-hand the scale of the transformation at the former Pomona dumpsite.
They were shown the newly commissioned sorting plant, the engineered landfill, and the water treatment facility—infrastructure that has effectively rehabilitated what was once a chronic environmental hazard.
Geo Pomona Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dilesh Nguwaya, hosted the delegation, reiterating his call for replication.
“We aim to have all cities in Zimbabwe adopt a waste management process similar to the sorting plants implemented in Harare,” Nguwaya said.
He emphasized that the model is not exclusive to the capital, pointing to ongoing engagements with Kwekwe, Victoria Falls and Mutare as evidence of its portability.
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The Bindura officials paid particular attention to the waste-to-energy component and the high-tech leachate treatment system—a significant upgrade from the “old methods of using containers and specific weeds” still employed by some municipalities.
The benchmarking exercise aligns with a directive from the Ministry of Local Government encouraging all local authorities to explore partnerships with Geo Pomona under the Public-Private Partnership framework.
It also signals a growing recognition among provincial towns that private sector innovation may hold the key to solving long-standing service delivery gaps.
Bindura Municipality is expected to compile a report on the tour, which could pave the way for a formal partnership.
Should a deal materialize, it would mark a significant policy shift for the town, transitioning from a reliance on overstretched council fleets toward a model that treats waste as an economic resource rather than a disposal burden.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who commissioned the Geo Pomona plant in June 2025, has urged all local authorities to emulate the initiative, stating that “cleanliness and efficient service delivery are essential benchmarks for a nation’s competitiveness.”
For Bindura, the visit to Pomona suggests that message is finally taking root beyond Harare.
