Mozambique: Maputo solid waste collection needs two weeks to stabilise – City Council

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Mozambique: Maputo solid waste collection needs two weeks to stabilise – City Council

2:21 CAT | 06 Jan 2025

File photo: AIM

Maputo City Municipal Council (CMCM) has announced that it needs two weeks to stabilise the normal collection of solid waste and put an end to informal dumps in the Mozambican capital.

The information was shared by the Councillor for Infrastructure and Health, João Munguambe, at a press conference in Maputo on Friday (03-01).

Councillor Munguambe said that Ka Maxakeni, Ka Mubukwana, Ka Nlhamankulo and Ka Mavota were the most critical urban districts, and deserved special attention from the City Council.

“There is a double effort on the part of the municipality and we are mobilizing support from public and private partners, as well as additional resources to be able to carry out the collection,” he said.

Munguambe explained that the double effort refers to the collection of the around 1,800 tons of solid waste produced daily, plus around 6,000 to 9,000 tons not removed during the strikes. According to him, protesters vandalized the equipment of one of the main service providers, which contributed to the reduction of installed capacity.

“We are working to restore capacity, but we also recognize that, in order to solve the problem of solid waste that has stopped being removed, we would need approximately two weeks of intense work with the reinforcement of additional resources. Their arrival is expected over the weekend and next week, in order to stabilize the situation,” he said.

Despite the difficulties, Munguambe believes that the health situation in the city of Maputo is likely to return to normal, as there are already visible signs of improvement in Ka Mpfumo.

There are also visible results in Nlhamankulo, Ka Maxakeni, Ka Mavota and Ka Mubukwana, which have the largest number of residents, “but we are working towards this and we believe that the coming days will be better”.

When asked about the micro-enterprises responsible for the primary collection of solid waste within the neighbourhoods for the secondary collection trucks, he assured that this was being done, although not in all neighbourhoods, due to the lack of resources.

Tender for rubbish containers launched

The Municipality has launched a tender for the acquisition of 100 more rubbish containers, 80 plastic with a capacity of 1,100 litres, and the rest metal.

“This process is underway. The contract has already been awarded and we are waiting for the supplier to start making deliveries at any moment,” Munguambe added. He also recalled that the tender was held before the protests, “a normal process to increase our capacity, and the loss of around 67 containers means replacing just over 20 containers, given that we currently have 10 vehicles insured”.

Munguambe deplored the attitude of residents who deposited rubbish in front of some public facilities, such as the Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM).

“They are not helping. They may think they are putting pressure on us, yes, I recognise that. It is one thing to have rubbish on the ground, in a concentrated place, and another thing to have a road closed with rubbish,” he said.

Councillor Munguambe appealed to residents to follow the positive examples of other residents who sweep and clean their neighbourhoods in order to help the community where they live, instead of making the situation worse.

Source: AIM Moçambique