Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. CCC councillors in Harare have requested to meet for a special council meeting to discuss and review the US$344 million Pomona waste-to-energy deal which has been widely criticised.
In a signed motion, the 31 CCC councillors on Wednesday wrote to Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume requesting a special council meeting to discuss the contract awarded to Geogenix BV.
According to ZimLive, Geogenix BV is a company registered in the Netherlands but owned by an Albanian businessman who is accused of corruption in his home country. Wrote the councillors:
We are of the view that the deal is, as we will show, of no benefit to the city and its ratepayers.
The deal, in our respectful view, will not solve the challenges associated with refuse collection but worsen them.
Many private players who have been helping the city with refuse collection have since withdrawn.
A private waste collector, Clean City, has suspended its disposal at Pomona services due to excessive charges by Geogenix.
The deal between Harare City Council and Geogenix BV is said to be a Build Operate Transfer agreement.
Build Operate Transfer is a form of project delivery method, usually for large-scale infrastructure projects, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the public sector to finance, design, construct, own, and operate a facility stated in the concession contract.
The contract signed between Harare City Council and Geogenix BV stipulates that the former will pay the latter US$40 per tonne of waste delivered.
The stipulated daily delivery is at least 550 tonnes or a minimum of 200 750 tonnes per year – translating to US$8.03 million for the company in the first year.
By the second year, the daily tonnage will rise to 650; going up to 750 in the third year; 850 in the fourth year and 1,000 tonnes per day at the start of the fifth year.
This means that the City of Harare will pay Geogenix BV a minimum of US$14.6 million annually starting in 2027 until 2052.
Should Harare fail to meet the minimum waste quantities, the city will still be invoiced as though it made the deliveries.
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