MINISTER of State in the Vice-President's Office (Union and Environment), Dr Suleiman Jafo, has given 15-day ultimatum to Dar es Salaam City Council to issue a permit to a local company to collect wastes from Pugu dumpsite for recycling.
The company, Givorah Recycling Limited, had applied for a permit to collect wastes from the dumpsite but the city council has not released it. Following the delay, Dr Jafo ordered immediate release of the document so as to reduce the waste accumulation at the dumpsite.
"My instruction to the Municipality is very clear. Just issue a permit document to the company within 15 days to enable them to collect the waste from the Pugu garbage," said Mr Jafo over the weekend during the visit of the company's premise at Mtoni Ward in Temeke District to observe waste recycling processes.
He said the city dumpsite located at Pugu Kinyamwezi is overloaded thus if companies such as Givorah have shown readiness to help in keeping the environment clean, it is better to allow them as soon as possible.
"I am surprised to hear that a company intending to help in promoting cleanliness is denied the permit...This does not sound well," he added.
He further said the city is producing a large amount of waste reaching around 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes a day, hence letting that company to collect the waste from the Pugu dumpsite will help to reduce the accumulation of waste.
Jafo said the government is striving to keep the environment clean through its various projects including planting trees and discourage production of charcoal and firewood which leads to deforestation.
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He has also called upon the company to expand its services by producing dustbins and place them in public places including hospitals, schools and markets to control waste littering.
For his part, the GRL's Attorney, Shehzada Walli, said the company was committed to supporting the government in keeping the city clean despite the challenges including difficulties encountered in accessing the waste.
He said it reached a point whereby the company was forced to buy the waste instead of being given freely.
Due to this reason the company failed to perform at its capacity when collecting waste from the just-ended Dar es Salaam International Fair (DITF), saying the company only managed to collect 30 per cent of the total waste at the area.
"Getting the raw materials for recycling has become a challenge for the company," said Attorney Walli.
On his part, Temeke's Municipal Director Elihuruma Mabelya said the issue of wastes has been a big challenge for quite a long time in the district, hence seeing a company stepping in for help is a big relief.
Speaking over the waste production in the city, Mr Mabelya said at least 1,400 tonnes of waste is produced while only 964 tonnes are being collected, leaving 379 tonnes uncollected.
