Opposition MDC-T president Douglas Mwonzora has urged the government to renegotiate the Pomona waste-to-energy deal between City of Harare and Netherlands based Geogenix BV.
Addressing the media Thursday morning at his party’s headquarters, Mwonzora said his party is not convinced that the deal will benefit the citizens of Zimbabwe.
“The [way the] deal is currently structured is not reasonable and not supportable. We cannot support a deal which according to the financial statements is going to run at a loss anyway. We propose that the Government immediately renegotiates this deal. We as the MDC-T have observed certain anomalies within this deal which do not make financial sense,” said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora said his party analysed the various documents on the Pomona deal and came to a conclusion that it is not beneficial to the country.
He said a City of Harare committee selected to do due diligence at Geogenix BV’s parent company in Italy made recommendations to the government regarding the financial aspects of the contract.
A truck moving waste at the Pomona Dumpsite. [Image: Munashe Chokodza]
Mwonzora dismissed calls for the Pomona waste-to-energy deal to be struck off, arguing that this would cost Harare City Council US$3 million if the contract is cancelled.
Watch Mwonzora’s full statement below.
Incensed Harare residents have previously called for the termination of the deal citing its opaqueness and the absence of feasibility study.
Through the deal, Harare is supposed to pay Geogenix US$22,000 daily to dump waste at Pomona dumpsite, which previously belonged to the city council.
Council’s waste bill has since ballooned to over US$800,000.
Dutch company Geogenix BV was awarded the contract to build a clean landfill, a waste treatment plant, a recycling plant and a waste-to-energy plant at the Pomona Dumpsite. Geogenix BV’s local representative, Delish Nguwaya, has a pending corruption case involving COVID-19 supplies.
