Stuck in conundrum: Maputo garbage collection costs 44 mln a month and the garbage tax yields only 14 mln

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Stuck in conundrum: Maputo garbage collection costs 44 mln a month and the garbage tax yields only 14 mln

1:36 CAT | 11 Jul 2024

Image: O País

The Municipality of Maputo needs 44 million meticais per month to pay garbage collection bills in all neighbourhoods (US$688,647 at current exchange rates). The revenue collected for the ‘garbage tax’ – paid via Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) – is only 14 million meticais (US$219,114,) leaving a deficit of 30 million meticais (US$469,532).

The crisis in solid waste collection in the Municipality of Maputo is ongoing. Garbage containers in the city’s neighbourhoods are increasingly full, and residents are feeling uncomfortable.

The fact is that the Maputo city council needs around 44 million meticais per month to pay the invoices of companies that provide collection services.

“Right now, we have a monthly bill resulting from primary collection of around 10,370,000 meticais, another from secondary collection, which is the main one, of which we see the direct effects, of around 33,560,000 meticais, totalling around 44 million meticais monthly,” explained João Munguambe, councillor for Infrastructure and Health.

With the revenue collected by Electricidade de Moçambique, which charges the garbage tax in the Credelec payments, the Municipality of Maputo only receives 14 million meticais, an amount considerably less than its expenditure.

“The revenue we get from Electricidade de Moçambique is 14,600,000, which means a deficit of around 30 million meticais, which has to come from other sources,” Munguambe added.

The Municipality of Maputo says it has made some payments to reduce the bills, but debts continue to grow.

“This year, we paid around 60 million meticais to Ecolife, and we paid the same amount to Enviroserv. This is to say that we are making payments, but this payment, naturally, is insufficient to cover the past debts that we have,” Munguambe concludes.

The city council says it continues to mobilise additional financial resources to pay its debts with Ecolife, Enviroserv and Clean Africa.

Source: O País