Ngozi Mine Residents Demand Homes, Jobs as Geo Pomona Takeover Looms

By Staff Reporter
BULAWAYO — Residents living at Bulawayo’s Richmond Landfill, popularly known as Ngozi Mine, have demanded alternative accommodation, employment and access to basic services if waste-management company Geo Pomona takes over operations at the troubled dumpsite.

The residents, many of whom have lived at the landfill for decades, said they were not opposed to efforts to modernise waste management at the site but feared being displaced without alternative homes or sources of income.

They rely heavily on waste picking and recycling to support their families.

The concerns come amid plans for Geo Pomona to potentially take over waste-management operations at Ngozi Mine, where residents have built homes and established livelihoods over several decades.

Febbie Sibanda, 47, said she had lived at Ngozi Mine for decades and had raised four children there.

“We welcome Geo Pomona coming here but we need a place to live and jobs,” Sibanda said.

Now a grandmother, Sibanda said relocation would create serious challenges for families whose children attend nearby schools.

“I have grandchildren and I don’t know where to go if I were to leave this place,” she said.

She said some children in the community rely on donors who pay their school fees, making access to nearby schools particularly important.

“We need a close place to live so that it will be easier to go to and from work and one where children are nearer to their schools,” she said.

Limukani Sibanda, 44, said she had lived at Ngozi Mine since 1994 after her family moved there because they could not afford rent elsewhere.

She said she had raised four children at the landfill and now had three grandchildren.

“I have established myself here at Ngozi Mine. Our main plea is a place to stay,” she said.

Limukani said she had previously been allocated a housing stand and had documents confirming the allocation, but the promised housing had never materialised.

She also called on any company operating at the landfill to employ local residents.

“If Geo Pomona comes here to Ngozi Mine, it must hire locals that are people from Ngozi and get jobs and have better lives,” she said.

She warned that forcing residents out without alternative accommodation could destroy their livelihoods.

“If trucks were to come here and remove us from here, they would simply dump us in the bush,” she said.

Waste picking, she added, had become a source of income passed down through generations.

Limukani said she collected rubber and pieces of clothing, which she used to make mats that she sold in Cowdray Park.

“Picking rubber is what has enabled me to take care of my children and now grandchildren,” she said.

The residents also raised concerns over access to safe water.

Limukani said some residents collect water from a local pond despite concerns over contamination.

“We fetch water from the pond, which is not clean because litter falls inside but since we grew up drinking that water, we use it,” she said.

She said another water source, known as koMaweya, had been abandoned after becoming contaminated with sewage.

Angela Zulu, 35, said she was born at Ngozi Mine and had also raised her children there.

“This has been our home and we have nowhere to go if we are to leave here,” Zulu said.

She said the community included elderly people, people living with disabilities and orphans who would face additional difficulties if relocated.

“We need places to stay with our children,” she said.

Zulu said residents had previously met people from Geo Pomona, who she claimed told them the company had bought the site.

“If the city council is involved, we are also asking for a place for us to work so that we are hired,” she said.

Brenda Phiri, 27, said she moved to Ngozi Mine as a child in 2005 and had since established her family there.

Phiri said she had also attempted to relocate to South Africa but eventually returned, while her mother had no alternative home.

She said residents had been informed about Geo Pomona during a meeting with council officials about two months ago.

“I heard Geo Pomona was coming here from council officials at their office who called us for a meeting two months back,” Phiri said.

She said officials had raised concerns about fires and smoke from the landfill, particularly because Tategulu School is located near the dumpsite.

“If Geo Pomona is taking over, we are asking ourselves where will we go? This has been home since I was little. There is no other home I know,” she said.

Youth representative Elitha Sibanda said young people wanted to remain economically active if the project proceeds.

“My mother gave birth to me from here and my grandmother was also here, although she has died. We have nowhere to go,” she said.

“We want a place to live or build us a house, even two-roomed cottages and not block us from picking waste to earn income for survival.”

Elitha also called for employment opportunities and assistance with water supplies.

Ngozi Mine was commissioned in 1994 and was designed to operate as a sanitary landfill. However, years of uncontrolled dumping and frequent fires have turned the site into a major environmental and public-health concern.

Residents in Cowdray Park, Emakhandeni, Luveve and surrounding areas have repeatedly complained about smoke from the landfill.

The proposed involvement of Geo Pomona has also raised questions over the procurement process.

Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe directed Bulawayo City Council to engage Geo Pomona over waste management at the landfill while the council's own procurement process was still underway.

The council had already received three compliant bids, creating uncertainty over how the ministerial directive would affect the procurement process.

Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart has said the council lacks the financial and technical capacity to independently develop a modern waste-management plant at Ngozi Mine and would therefore need to consider private investment.

Coltart said the council was collecting about 65 percent of rates and other bills, leaving it without enough resources to finance a waste-processing facility that could cost millions of dollars.

However, he said the council had not yet established what Geo Pomona could offer or how much any potential agreement would cost the city.

For Ngozi Mine residents, the issue is not simply about waste management.

They say they support efforts to address the landfill's environmental problems but want any redevelopment to take into account the people who have lived and worked at the site for years.

Their demands include alternative accommodation, continued access to schools and basic services, clean water and opportunities to earn a living through employment or participation in the new waste-management system.

“We get money from the waste we pick here. If we leave, what do we do with our children who have donors paying for their fees? We are fearful if they take over without helping us,” Phiri said.

Source: CITE