A pile of foul smelling waste at Tšosane dumpsite ©photo supplied
Billy Ntaote
Plans to relocate the foul-smelling Tšosane dumpsite to Tšoeneng were aborted after the Natural Resources and the Law Cluster instructed the Maseru City Council (MCC) to cancel ongoing processes to do so due to a lack of funds.
Responding to protests by Tšosane residents to resolve the stinking waste problem, Ministry of Home Affairs, Police, Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs hatched a plan to repatriate the mountain of waste from Tšosane dumping site to Tšoeneng landfill in March this year.
The MCC (which is in charge of waste management within its jurisdiction)’s Town Clerk at the time, Selete Molete told MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism that the “Tšosane dumpsite waste is just being relocated to the Tšoeneng landfill where it should have been repatriated a long time ago”.
An advert for the repatriation project that Molete refers to is titled “Request for Proposals for Transportation of Waste from Tšosane Dumpsite to Tšoeneng landfill” and was published on March 21 this year with a deadline of April 18. This request for proposals was published on the MCC’s Facebook page.
Part of the request for proposals reads: “…In line with these responsibilities, the Maseru City Council seeks proposals from locally-owned Basotho transportation companies or entities interested in transporting waste from the Tšosane dumpsite to the Tšoeneng Landfill”.
The impatient Ha Tšosane residents resorted to petitioning the National Assembly to step in and speed up the process of relocating the dumpsite as the ministry and the MCC, moved forward with the tendering processes to rope in a contractor who would be entrusted with the job.
Upon receiving the petition, the Natural Resources portfolio committee Chairperson, Legislator Moeketsi Motšoane told MNN that the joint sitting of the committees responsible for oversight on environmental issues and law cluster responsible for local government was convened over this matter.
He said it was then decided there should be a concrete waste management plan for the country, while in the meantime, private investors would be invited to express their interest in managing the Tšosane waste for the MCC.
“We have learned of companies that are saying they want to use that waste for profitable business and do not need the government to spend money. But we resorted to calling for private investors after considering expert opinions that the removal of the waste would be a very costly exercise for the government,” Motšoane said.
EnviroTech claims
Shareholders of EnviroTech Waste Solutions, a local company that now has an exclusive 25-year nationwide waste management contract, Motlatsi Mosaase and Nthebeleng Moorosi say the new changes on waste management did not only contravene their contract, but also favoured a company of the Minister of Local Government, Lebona Lephema, whose ministry was leading the dumsite relocation plans.
The duo claim requirements listed in the request for proposals are specifications for plant and machinery that local government minister’s family group of companies Lephema’s Executive Transport owns, saying this raised suspicions that the tender was intended for the company.
MNN could not establish whether the company was one of the applicants for this tender as Lehlohonolo Lephema, the managing director of Executive Transport ignored all questions made about their company’s interest. Instead, the company’s spokesperson referred to as Makoa said, “I think you have to come and meet with. No response yet.” But Makoa did not respond further when asked for location, date and time for physical meeting he was requesting.
The tender requirements seen by MNN include Super Link [Truck] with drop sides, Try Axle [Truck] trailer with drop sides and Side Tipper Trucks, with an emphasis that loading tool must be 950/966 front-end loader and all trailers must have the Tarpaulins covers. It is these requirements that Mosaase and Moorosi claim favoured Lephema Executive Transport over other local contractors.
Aborted plans
Molete’s recently appointed successor, Qoboko Makhakhe, told MNN that on the instruction of the parliamentary portfolio committee, “the idea to repatriate waste to Tšoeneng was quashed and the council was prompted to make a resolution instructing us to find a solution to the problem within Tšosane dumping site, hence the call for expression of interest”.
After the MCC passed a resolution for the Tšosane dumpsite to be stabilised and managed with the help of private investors, a new call for Expression of Interest was published on June 6. This MNN learned was intended to minimise the foul smell, rodents and crawling and flying insects that infest the dumpsite surrounding residences.
“I’ve met with the Envirotech Waste Solutions people and I told them that I am implementing the Council’s resolution to find private sector investors who can help stabilise the waste not to be a health hazard for the Tšosane residents. If they are aggrieved, they should go to court to stop us.
“In short the resolution is that the Maseru City Council does not have money for a project that requires about M45-million to manage waste. So the council is seeking private sector-led solutions for management of the waste,” said Makhakhe.
