Story by Owen Mandovha
THE GeoPomona Waste Management Company has concluded its fact-finding mission in Botswana after touring landfills in Gaborone.
The tour started at the Ramotswa landfill just outside the capital Gaborone, where the challenges include obsolete landfill equipment.
A Senior Environmental Health Officer, Selebogo Ponegelo, gave an insight into the waste management site established in 2009.
“The Ramotswa landfill takes about 23,000 tonnes of waste per year. However, we are open to working with more private sector players as already one is here. We lack the capacity to effectively run this site and transform it into a world-class site,” said Ponegelo.
Next on the programme was the Gomadubu landfill, south of the capital city, which poses huge environmental hazards to surrounding villages in the Kweneng District Council.
“Waste management is a big issue here in the Kweneng District, which comprises various neighbourhoods of Gaborone. We have not come up with a very efficient model to work despite previous collaborations. So, we are looking for potential collaborations with the private sector hence the coming in of GeoPomona is a welcome development,” noted Kweneng District Council deputy secretary, Mr Sebonego Mosinyi.
“The Gomadubu landfill was developed in 2009 with a lifespan of 20 years and a waste retaining capacity of 65000 tonnes annually. However, we have seen a lot of challenges regarding efficient waste management including failure to collect payments which is affecting operations. We have tried to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the private partner, but they have abandoned the project. There are frequent fires here that are affecting the surrounding community,” Chief Public Health Officer, Kweneng District Council Ms Kutlanwo Fembon weighed in.
The day was wrapped up by an exit meeting led by the GeoPomona team of engineers.
“We are excited to have hosted the Zimbabwe delegation which comprises of GeoPomona engineers. It was indeed a learning process on how we can work together as sisterly countries to deal with the scourge of waste. From here we will establish this year how we can send a team to Zimbabwe after consultations to ensure that we move forward,” said, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development permanent secretary, Mrs Gaba Gabriella Mogapi.
GeoPomona Waste Management Company Executive Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Dilesh Nguwaya is convinced Botswana presents an opportunity to extend the project scope beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
“This visit really demonstrates that we can indeed work together to find solutions to our challenges and in this case, waste management. I would like to thank President Masisi for inviting us here to find out how the waste management industry in Botswana is developing and seeking ways of collaboration,” he indicated.
It emerged that a delegation from Botswana will soon visit Zimbabwe for a benchmarking tour of the GeoPomona Waste to Energy project to establish parameters of cooperation.
