Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube was greatly impressed by our project which he described as a “flagship project” which must be taken to other cities and countries.
Prof Ncube said this after touring our facility in Pomona on Thursday.
He said our project was “a real flagship project among what you call PPP, Public Private Partnership, projects around the country”.
Prof Ncube said the government approved the project barely over three years ago but the work that has been done so far was impressive.
“We see that the management has worked very very hard to clean up the old dumpsite. Three years ago it was all a dump. Now you barely see the waste. Not only is it, as I said, a flagship PPP project, but also an environmental cleanup project. The environment is clean, the waste is managed properly and then you realize that the whole project is in fact effective,” said the Finance and Economic Development Minister.
Prof Ncube added that it was worth noting that the project in Pomona had employed about 200 people.
“It’s an impressive project. I really wish they (Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd) could move it into other cities, other parts of the country. It is an example of how waste management ought to be done. I was able to see the sports facilities; FIFA quality football pitch,” he said.
He congratulated our management and partners for the project.
Prof Ncube also spoke about the incredible transformation at our site where there will be electricity production.
“In another three years, they’ll be producing electricity right here from the gas generated from the waste and then feeding into the grid so they become an independent power producer,” said the Minister.
“I can assure you that we have wonderful arrangements for IPP investors in the sector. We offer guarantees on power purchase agreements. If ZETDC cannot pay you, we step in and pay. We do that for everybody, solar producers and also the type of power plant that is being proposed here. You don’t have to worry about currency convertibility agreements but for foreign investors we also guarantee that they can access foreign currency to service their loans. But also as government we believe that our tariff is very economic right now. Economically viable tariff at 16 cents per kilowatt hour, that’s very attractive,” said Prof Ncube.
