Pomona deal under spotlight as experts meet

Experts under the banner of the Zimbabwe Institute of Geomatics (ZIG) will gather in Harare tomorrow for an annual conference that will focus on a number of issues, among them the contentious GeoPomona project.

Geomatics is made up of several fields that include geographical information science, engineering survey, land/cadastral survey, mining survey, remote sensing and photogrammetry.

Early this year, a German investor, Geogenix BV, fronted locally by Delish Nguwaya, entered into a build, operate and transfer deal with Harare City Council, which saw it take over the Pomona dumpsite to turn waste into electricity.

The project has been mired in controversy.

“The purpose of the conference is to discuss issues to do with waste, water and transport management. As you may be aware, we have been having discussions with regards to the Pomona dumpsite waste-to-energy project. We thought it necessary as a professional body to have a conference which aligns to that issue,” ZIG president Wilson Mhuri said.

“We will have a presentation from GeoPomona, the team that is dealing with the Pomona dumpsite project. This will be an opportunity for them to share with professionals where they are now and where they are going.

“Professionals will also be able to give their ideas on how they can improve on the project. We are looking forward to discussions pertaining to Pomona from a professional perspective,” Mhuri added.

He said experts would also focus on waste management problems in other cities.

“The background of our theme came about because of the challenges we are facing in major cities and towns, especially concerning waste management.

“City councils are facing challenges in garbage collection. What we are thinking is to say let’s have a discussion where all stakeholders are in one room and look for solutions, especially for waste management in Zimbabwe,” Mhuri said.

“We are going to discuss these issues and come up with resolutions and recommendations to various stakeholders so that we can implement an efficient waste management system as well as water and transport management in Zimbabwe as a whole,” he added.

“The conference will be graced by various international players including big companies like OPTRON, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Digital Earth Africa and Drone Solutions, among many others,” he said.-newsday