Zimpapers Logo

Property Reporter —
HARARE City Council and its partners, ProBin will invest about $400 000 in the installation of underground bins in and around the city as it escalates the fight against litter.

Council has mandated acting town clerk Josephine Ncube to engage ProBin to negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Agreement on the company’s proposal to install the underground bins.

Already a prototype underground bin was installed on Jason Moyo Avenue corner Rezende Street.

The underground bins, to be positioned in high pedestrian traffic area, will be one cubic metre underground.

The total cost of installation is estimated at $400 per bin and the proposal was to install 1 800 bins in the central business district and at shopping centres. The whole project would cost $328 000. ProBin said it had capacity to install more bins if needed.

According to the ProBin proposal, the underground bins would have space for advertising on two sides which would be approximately 0,8 square metres and the third side would be reserved for general information and waste promotion messages.

The advertising would be managed by ProBin for a management fee of 25 percent of the income and 75 percent would be for the City.

Also, the roll out would be that the 800 bins would be in place within 60 days of the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.

The tenure of the agreement was proposed to be five years and during this period, ProBin would be maintaining the infrastructure.

Council would be empting the underground as and when the need arises.

Council was also working together with ProBin in developing a prototype underground skip bin.

Trials were now imminent once the locations and production modalities had been agreed on.

This comes as council has also tightened a by-law aimed at tightening screws on environmental pollution. Last year council passed a by-law empowering it to impound vehicles used to dump litter and fine offenders amounts not exceeding level three ($20).

According to the Harare (Anti-Litter) By-Laws of 2016 any vehicle impounded must be claimed by the owner and returned on payment of a fine.

“Any vehicle impounded in terms of this section must be claimed by the owner and returned on payment of a fine not exceeding the cost of removing litter concerned, the cost of transfer to the compound and cost of storage.”