Wallace Ruzvidzo-Herald Reporter
BOTSWANA is looking to tap into Zimbabwe’s innovative waste management model to transform the City of Francistown Sanitary Landfill into a modern, sustainable facility that creates employment opportunities while addressing persistent environmental and public health challenges.
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Geo Pomona Waste Management and the Government of Botswana last month, witnessed by President Duma Boko, paving the way for cooperation in modernising the country’s waste management systems.
The partnership is now gathering momentum, with Geo Pomona Waste Management Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr Dilesh Nguwaya, who is also Special Advisor to the President on Waste Management and Environmental Sustainability, leading a delegation on an assessment visit to the City of Francistown Sanitary Landfill yesterday.
Francistown Mayor Councillor Gaone Majere said the engagement was the culmination of growing cooperation between Botswana and Zimbabwe, which has seen senior Government officials from Botswana visit the Geo Pomona facility in Harare to appreciate its operations and explore how the model could be replicated in their country.
He said the initiative had gathered momentum following visits to Zimbabwe by Botswana’s President and Vice President, as well as a September visit by the Minister of Local Government, during which he was part of a delegation that toured the Harare facility.
“After our visit, the Minister, the team from the ministry, and I returned, and then Geo Pomona followed us to Botswana to sign an MOU. It was done in front of the President of this Republic,” Cllr Majere said.
Following the signing of the memorandum of understanding, Geo Pomona embarked on engagements with various local authorities across Botswana, assessing landfill sites and exploring opportunities to modernise waste management systems.
Cllr Majere said Francistown, which serves as a central waste management hub for surrounding settlements under the Greater Francistown area, was keen to benefit from the expertise and technological solutions offered by the Zimbabwean company.
“We want to enter into a contract or agreement with Geo Pomona, so they can come and see how we can manage this waste, utilise it, and use it to create jobs for our people. We see an opportunity in this initiative,” he said.
Cllr Majere identified scavenging and recurrent fires at the sanitary landfill as some of the major challenges confronting the city, warning that the uncontrolled retrieval and resale of discarded materials posed potential public health risks.
The Francistown Mayor said the city was hopeful that Geo Pomona’s intervention would introduce modern waste handling and resource recovery systems while providing sustainable livelihood opportunities for people currently dependent on scavenging.
He said his previous visit to Harare had given him confidence that waste management could be transformed into an economically productive undertaking, rather than remain an environmental burden.
“I had an opportunity to go to Harare to see how Geo Pomona are managing things and making a suitable living for the people who have been moving around here, or the scavengers who had been staying there. So I still have high hopes,” said Cllr Majere.
Dr Nguwaya said the Francistown visit marked the transition from the cooperation agreement signed with the Botswana Government to its practical implementation, with Geo Pomona deploying its engineers and technical experts to assess the landfill and recommend modern waste management solutions.
He said the initiative would also demonstrate Zimbabwe’s capacity to export home-grown expertise and technology to other African countries.
“Now it’s our time as Geo Pomona to come and implement what we’ve put in the agreement. This is why we are here; my engineers, the technical team.
“Dumpsites are the same the world over, and the question is how to manage them,” Dr Nguwaya said.
“So we came here to give the solution for this dump site, not to continue using the old traditional way of dumping waste.
“We are bringing the solution to bring new technology and ways to manage our landfills, like what other countries do globally.”
Dr Nguwaya said the partnership demonstrated the importance of African countries drawing on their own expertise to address shared development challenges, adding that Zimbabwe was ready to share its skills and innovations with neighbouring countries.
“Zimbabwe is open for business, as our President always says. That’s why we are bringing our skills from Zimbabwe to Botswana so that we show the nation that Zimbabwe is open also to give skills to other countries. This is the way to go,” he said.
Dr Nguwaya also highlighted Geo Pomona’s ongoing investment in waste-to-energy technology, which will see the company convert waste into electricity, describing the project as a pioneering development for Southern Africa.
“Remember, we are now constructing the waste-to-energy plant, the first of its kind in Southern Africa.
“We are going to produce electricity from waste. This is the first model in Southern Africa where we are importing the idea from other countries which are already developed,” he said.
Dr Nguwaya said the transformation of the Pomona dumpsite into a modern waste management and recreational facility had attracted interest from regional leaders, with visits by Heads of State providing an opportunity to appreciate the model’s potential for replication.
“The visits by leaders of other countries to our facility are because of the transformation which has been done by Geo Pomona.
“It was a dirty place, and no one wanted to live at that place.
“But if you go to Geo Pomona now, you see it’s a place where people can dine, can relax, because of that transformation,” he said.
Source: Geo Pomona leads Botswana on waste management – herald
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