Over 1 000 Who Depend On Garbage Selling Dump At Pomona Fret Over Possible Eviction
More than 1 000 people who have been picking and selling garbage from Pomona Dumpsite have expressed anxiety over the possibility that they will be evicted from the place.
They have been staying at the Pomona Dumpsite where the government intends to implement a waste-to-energy project.
The squatters say their livelihoods would be affected if Geo Pomona goes ahead with threats to chase them away. Mike Chabarwa, one of the pickers told NewZimbabwe:
They have threatened to give us an eviction notice, but most of us here have nowhere to go.
This is where all my life is. I have been staying here since 2008, where do you want me to go?
Harare City Council was way better than Geo Pomona because they allowed us to pick and sell the trash for US$50 a month per person, with the massive numbers which l estimate to be around 1,500. There are lots of people around this place.
The Minister of Social Amenities, Daniel Garwe, said the government had already started constructing houses in Dzivarasekwa where the pickers would be relocated.
He estimated that there were 512 people at the site. Garwe also said the people who built houses in wetlands on river banks were going to be relocated as well.
The Netherlands-registered Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd was given the contract to turn waste into energy for the next 30 years taking the dumpsite from Harare City Council.
