Garbage piles as GCC grounds new trucks
Victor Muyakwabo | Thursday March 27, 2014 12:32
The trucks have gone for first service since they were bought but the second service has not been possible because of financial constraints. Garbage has been piling in the city as garbage collectors remain idle because only one truck is operational.
Sources say two of the grounded trucks are parked at Gaborone West, three are in Gaborone South, another three in Gaborone North depots while one is in the garage.
“Council employees spend the whole day idle, and drivers are forced to work interchangeably on the only truck that is working. Nine trucks just parked and the management is not saying anything,” said an employee who preferred anonymity.
But in his speech to the council this week, Gaborone mayor, Haskins Nkaigwa said nothing about the problem.
He stated that the waste collection tender has been awarded.
“Through these tenders, it is anticipated that the waste management situation in the city will improve as council will focus collection on the rest of the city while the contractor collects waste in those respective areas. It is anticipated that the tender will run for the next three years,” said Nkaigwa.
The mayor stated that the consultancy service for the design and upgrading of traffic lights and installation of Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) is nearing completion.
He said the project will address the problem of traffic congestion and improve the overall signage in the city for proper vehicle movement and management. The other phase of the project will deal with roads and intersections.
Meanwhile, the mayor said that they have installed power backup units at six major road junctions in the city.
“These back up units are fully functional except for the one located at Nokia junction where we experienced failure of the backup system, the repair of this backup system are underway,” said Nkaigwa.
He said that installation of the backup system has improved service at the other five traffic junctions, as they are fully functional even during load shedding.
The mayor said plans for the maintenance and rehabilitation of streetlights and installation of floodlights are at an advanced stage. Tender documents for installation of meters for stalls are being prepared. The move is meant to make all market stall tenants individually responsible for the payment of their electricity bills.