Nampula and the garbage challenge

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Nampula and the garbage challenge

6:14 CAT | 13 Sep 2018

Photo: O País

Nampua City Council recently acquired four tractors and about 300 metal and plastic garbage containers in Portugal, nominally solving the problem of the removal and management of solid waste in the city, according to councillor for Hygiene, Sanitation and Funeral Management, Abudo Ali.

“In terms of solid waste collection in the city of Nampula, we are in a very good phase. This means we are no longer threatened by garbage,” he says.

However, the reality on the ground remains difficult, especially in the suburban neighbourhoods, a true test of the management capacity of mayor Paulo Vahanle’s administration.

“The city is totally clean, and we have only four large dumps that we have not yet removed, but in a week’s time we will start removing those. We have garbage in the Aeroporto area, another focussed in the Temo zone, another in Namicopo that has not been removed for 30 years, and the last one now in Namutequeliua,” Ali said.

The city does not yet know the exact amount of garbage produced daily in the city, its estimates being based only on the amount it collects per day.

“The idea we have [of total waste] is calculated from the garbage collected in the city, where every day we collect eight hundred cubic meters,” he added.

The Municipality of Nampula receives approximately 840,000 meticais per month in garbage collection fees.

Meanwhile, Renamo members in Nampula have been mobilising on garbage collection and cleaning work in the city. Members of the mayor’s political party told O País that they are carrying out activities voluntarily in support of Paulo Vahanle’s administration.

“Cleaning activities are going very well. We are working in an official way with more than 500 people in the Muhala and Namutequeliua neighbourhoods. We work voluntarily and without remuneration to support our member [Vahanle],” they explain.

Paulo Vahanle was elected president of the Municipality of Nampula following his victory over the Frelimo candidate in the second round of the mayoral by-election held in March this year.

Recently, it has been commonplace to encounter groups involved in collective clean-up work right across the city. Mayor Vahanle has praised what the members of his party have been doing, and confirms its voluntary nature.

By Jamal Ramadane

Source: O País