The ongoing works at Geo Pomona Waste Management company will not only upgrade the country's infrastructure, but will also enhance labour skills transfer programme for Southern Africa, Harare Metropolitan Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Charles Tawengwa has said. In addition to balancing the local labour supply and demand for waste management, the skills transfer will foster regional co-operation and integration.
MinisterTawengwa made the remarks yesterday during a tour of Geo Pomona Waste Management.
"Employment generation and skills transfer are some of the components that will aid in Zimbabwe achieving its intended goals," said Minister Tawengwa.
"With the SADC Industrialisation Week already around the corner, most SADC countries must learn from what Geo Pomona is doing and incorporate it into their own nations."
The US$328 million waste-to-energy project at Pomona dumpsite is moving according to plan, with Geo Pomona Waste Management meeting the targeted timelines in the roadmap it laid two years ago. Minister Tawengwa said waste management should start at the household level to a secondary level, to complement what Geo Pomona is doing. At Geo Pomona, an integrated waste management system is being constructed with the aim of changing the whole culture of waste management.
Construction of the structural works for the sorting, water treatment and hazardous waste plants is also in the pipeline while more than 150 people have been employed directly.
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Geo Pomona Waste Management chief executive officer and executive chairman, Dr Delish Nguwaya, said: "The one thing I have seen driving most economies is skills transfer.
"Currently, we have welcomed more than four universities within the country aimed at making sure that students have skills that go beyond an ordinary certificate and also transfer skills between my engineers and the students. As Geo Pomona is one of its kind within the region, we have something to showcase to the Heads of State and officials who will be present at the SADC Industrialisation Week and the Summit."
Minister Tawengwa was accompanied by Permanent Secretary Mr Cosmas Chiringa, Harare City Council town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango and service chiefs, among other officials. Geo Pomona, which took over the Pomona dumpsite from Harare City Council in April 2022, has eliminated the stench and perennial fires that used to engulf the area, posing health threats to humans and the environment.
