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Herald Reporter

The conversion of the simple earth-fill Pomona dumpsite to a modern garbage plant that will supply power from the methane generated by rotting waste is progressing well, with the Geo Pomona Waste Management company now at the initial stage of flattening the land to create a recreational park, among other things.

The €304 million joint venture deal between Harare City Council and Netherlands investor, Geogenix BV is expected to generate up to 22MW of electricity while more than 500 people will be employed.

Responding to questions by journalists during a tour organised the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZINEF) yesterday, Geo Pomona Waste chairman, Mr Delish Nguwaya said the Pomona deal was continuing despite disturbances from the Harare City Council.

“There is no problem. We are continuing because the deal was done above board. Mayor Jacob Mafume was not around when we signed the contract and now he wants to start the whole process, simply because he was not there.

“The same councillors who approved the contract are the same who want the contract to be cancelled. We advised  Mr Mafume to check everything in the feasibility study,” he said.

Mr Nguwaya said what was happening would discourage investors from coming to Zimbabwe.

“If the deal does not come through, there is a penalty of US$3, 5 million which will be paid by council,” he said. Responding to questions on operational issues, Geo Pomona compliance manager, Engineer Wadzanai Chigwa said they were concentrating on the encapsulation, a process which will result in the flattening the waste and compacting of the ground.

“We are flattening the waste because we are going to cover the existing waste at Pomona through a process of encapsulation.

“From that encapsulation points, we are going to create landfills which are cells where we are now going to separate the waste.

“We are going to establish a recreational park but we need to manage the existing waste first so we can later come in with the plants,” she said.

Eng Chigwa said the Pomona refuse is classified as municipal waste, hazardous waste and ash.

“Wherever there is waste generated there is water that comes out or when rainy water comes and we will channel it to waste water treatment where it would be used in the waste energy plant.

“We are also planning on establishing a sorting plant where we are going to separate the recyclable waste from the non-recyclable waste. The recyclable waste will go to the recycling companies and the non-recyclable waste will be burnt in the combustion chamber of the waste energy plant. Flue gases that are going to come out of the waste will be treated while toxins will be removed.

“We will have a power station similar to the one in Hwange only that instead of coal we will be using waste to generate electricity,” she said.

“Pomona is known for fire outbreak so we are also creating fireguards so that in the event that there is a fire outbreak before the completion of the project, it is easily contained.

Eng Chigwa said the Pomona water management plant  was the second largest in and required 1000 tonnes of waste per day.

She said they were confident that they will get the waste as they were currently receiving much more than the 1000 tonnes required daily.

“We have companies and farms that bring bio waste while construction companies bring with soils and concretes. The main type of waste however is the solid waste which is the municipal waste.

The company has done similar projects in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

Geo Pomona Waste general manager, Mr Enea Murataj said the waste management plant will see more than 500 people being employed including those that had been scavenging at the site. ZINEF scertary general Isdore Guvamombe said the tour was organised to give editors and other journalists a rare face to face interaction with the project, in situ.

“We will continue engaging and giving Editors the opportunity to get first hand information and an in situ opportunity to see for themselves national projects of this magnitude, to avoid speculation and enhance their personal understanding of the project.

“I want to thank Pomona Waste Management for agreeing to engage with senior journalists in a project that had many distortions in media houses. Today’s tour will be repeated as and when we feel necessary or project managers feel necessary. That is our agreement,’’ he said.