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Mellisa Mutasa Herald Reporter
Harare residents have voiced concern over council’s failure to collect garbage, especially in high-density suburbs. Residents feel such incompetence, particularly during the current rainy season, is likely to be catastrophic.

Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) director Mr Precious Shumba said though ratepayers continue to pay for the service, the city is worryingly not collecting garbage in most suburbs.

“The City of Harare has dismally failed to provide refuse collection services in most high-density residential areas. The residents are being charged $7,48 monthly refuse collection charge on the commitment by the City of Harare to collect refuse once a week from each household billed for the services.

Mr Shumba

“Sadly, areas including Msasa Park, Hatfield, Glen View and Glen Norah are among the most affected so far,” said Mr Shumba.

“The city has provided this essential service of refuse collection in an erratic manner, such that in some instances residents go for two or three months without providing the service. The city has failed to provide explanations and justifications to the residents, the rights holders, who sustain the operations of the City of Harare,” said Mr Shumba.

Mr Shumba said Sunningdale 3 had huge refuse dumps, which have not been collected in a long time. Residents, the HRT said, are now complaining about the unbearable stench.

HRT says the city must start collecting garbage as a matter of urgency. The city’s corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme however, insisted that the local authority continues to collect garbage in the said  areas.

“It is a lie that the city is not collecting garbage at these areas. We are collecting garbage at these places. As the city, we sometimes face challenges, but currently there is no suburb with an overdue collection of over one-and-a-half weeks. We admit that we do not have adequate garbage trucks available at the moment, but we try to provide favourable services to all suburbs,” said Mr Chideme.