Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is seeking bidders for waste management following advice from the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida) and the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz).
This was after the two bodies urged the city to invite representatives from Geo Pomona (Pvt) Ltd to an engagement meeting to understand the operations of the company.
The Geo Pomona representatives were asked to present the city’s waste management activities and make recommendations to council on the appropriate way forward regarding waste management strategies.
BCC’s latest minutes on solid waste management in urban centres state that health services director Edwin Sibanda reported last month that town clerk Christopher Dube received a letter from the Local Government and Public Works ministry on June 6 regarding the need for proper waste management systems.
“Following receipt of the ministerial letter, the City of Bulawayo invited representatives from Geo Pomona (Pvt) Ltd to an engagement meeting to understand the operations of the company, present the city’s waste management activities and make recommendations to council on the appropriate way forward regarding waste management strategies,” the minutes read.
“The meeting was advised that the City of Bulawayo had started the process of reviewing previously submitted expressions of interest before receipt of the letter of June 6, 2025.
“The City of Bulawayo negotiating committee had assessed the 11 expressions of interests (EoIs) and had made a recommendation to submit three to Zida.”
The minutes state that on submission earlier this year, Zida had advised that the bids should be processed through Praz.
“Additionally, such EoIs were to be advertised publicly as tenders to facilitate a competitive bidding process. The city noted that the EoIs had been received following council’s public advert of an investment prospectus in 2017 and 2018,” the minutes read.
“Council had prepared the advert for a public tender, which was, however, halted by receipt of the ministerial letter as council sought to understand and attend to its interpretation.”
Council noted that the meeting with Geo Pomona representatives sought to understand the organisation’s operations, their public-private partnership arrangement with the City of Harare and the legal arrangements regarding the contract with the City of Harare.
The minutes state that in his opening remarks at the meeting, Dube, the town clerk, highlighted the importance of aligning the city’s approach with government’s directive.
“He stressed that there should be collaboration in exploring ways to address existing challenges, identify potential solutions and consider areas where co-operation could be enhanced to achieve mutual benefit,” the minutes read.
A presentation was made by the City of Bulawayo health services department outlining the city’s current waste management practices, challenges and proposed solutions.
“The city’s presentation noted that the motivation to pursue waste-to-energy projects was driven by several factors which included space constraints: Limited landfill space necessitated alternative waste management solutions, vision for a smart, transformative city; Aligning with the city’s broader goal of becoming a smart city through circular economic initiatives; and energy deficiency: Recognising that Zimbabwe faces significant energy shortages, making waste-to-energy an attractive solution,” the council noted.
Indications are that Geo Pomona representatives also gave their presentation, emphasising on encapsulation of waste management, managing the inflows of the waste, landfill management (lining and creating leachate ponds), waste sorting and management, waste to energy plan civil works and waste to energy.
“Council had noted that there was a need to pursue a competitive procurement process, given that multiple companies had already expressed interest in the project,” the minutes read.
“It was noted that the city had received a number of expressions of interest prior to the ministerial letter and there was a need to craft a strategic roadmap for how the local authority will handle the waste-to-energy expression of interest process.”
Indications were that the roadmap was key for managing the bidding process to ensure adherence to the Zida and Procurement Act requirements.
“The matter was considered and Bulawayo mayor David Coltart noted that council had engaged a Canadian company. The tender process should not grant competitive advantage. The process should be fair. The resolution should not have any name of a company,” the minutes further read.
“The acting town clerk explained that proposals had been submitted to Zida. Zida had advised that the bids should be processed through Praz. Expressions of interest were to be advertised publicly as tenders facilitating a competitive bidding process. Geo Pomona had approached council. Geo Pomona had been advised to follow the processes, participate and compete with the other bidders.”
Council then resolved that it would craft a clear problem statement/business case for solutions that should be proffered in the management of solid waste, advertise as a matter of urgency the expression of interest inviting bidders as per the Zida and Praz recommendations and that all other previous bidders be requested to submit their expressions of interest in line with the competitive bidding process.
It was said feedback would be shared with the Local Government and Public Works ministry on the processes the city was undertaking towards management of solid waste.
For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe Follow Africa-Press
