By Nigel Pfunde
HARARE — Delegates attending Africa Skills Week on Wednesday conducted an official tour of the Geo Pomona Waste Management site in Harare exploring how local technical expertise is turning former environmental hazards into international models for sustainability.
Speaking during the tour, Geo Pomona Waste Management Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Dilesh Nguwaya who also serves as Special Advisor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Waste Management and Environmental Sustainability, highlighted the site’s transformation into a continental benchmark.
“Geo Pomona is one of the legacy projects of the Second Republic under President Dr E. D. Mnangagwa,” Dr Nguwaya said.
“It reflects his vision to show African countries and beyond that waste can be managed properly. This site was once a place people avoided. Today it attracts visitors, because of the transformation carried out by Zimbabweans and our local engineers. The technology on the site, from the sorting plant to the water treatment plant, meets international standards for proper waste management. We aim to make this site a skills centre. We intend for people in Zimbabwe, and other Africans, to learn from our local engineers and then to expand the same model to Africa as a continent.
The MoU signed on October 9 with the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development, provides a framework for a proposed Centre of Excellence in Waste Management.
“Zimbabwe is now leading in waste management, and we are ready to share this best practice with other countries.”
The visit, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development as part of the official Africa Skills Week programme, brought together high-level continental delegates, including Uganda’s Minister of State for Primary Education, Hon. Chemutai Phyllis, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic’s Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Hon Abdelkader Talebaomar.
Central to the showcase was the dramatic physical turnaround of the site. Once an unsightly dumpsite that nearby communities and travelers deliberately avoided, the location has been completely revitalised through the efforts of Zimbabwean engineers and workers.
The visitors said they were eager to replicate the model in their home countries.
