11 May 2014

Privatising or outsourcing Gamodubu regional landfill could be the answer as Kweneng District Council (KDC) struggles to run the multi-million Pula entity. 

With skyrocketing operational costs and limited revenue from support grant allocated to KDC and the fact that the landfill is being owed millions by government departments and private companies, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development had since sought advice from Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA) on the best possible solution to operate the facility. 

Feasibility study undertaken by PEEPA on outsourcing of waste management services had recommended that the landfill be run as a concession in which the private sector will be responsible not only for the operation and maintenance of assets but also for financing and managing all the required investment. 

Thereafter, the assets will then be transferred back to the council at the end of the concession period including newly developed facilities during the life of the agreement.

This has surfaced during a tour of the facility by the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Olebile Gaborone on Thursday May 8 .

KDC Deputy Council Secretary (Technical), Ms Baipelelang Photlokwe briefed Mr Gaborone that out of the many available methods to run the landfill, among them, commericialisation, management contract, lease or service contract, concession has the advantage of transferring operational risks to the private sector. 

She said it also allows flexibility and innovation from the private operator though it has the disadvantage of being more complex and time consuming as it will require more regulatory oversight. 

Furthermore, she said it will be difficult to implement in an untested public private partnership market like Botswana.

She therefore said it will need benchmarking from other countries like South Africa and Namibia who have experience on the matter.

Photlokwe highlighted that though the council want to outsource waste management services in Mogoditshane and Gamodubu Regional Landfill, there is a challenge of funding, saying the current budget 2014/2015 does not have provision for such initiatives due to limited budget allocated to KDC.

She said most challenges that hinder the landfill to operate effectively have been some mitigation measures in place. 

For instance, it has been observed that the incinerators seem to be overwhelmed by the amount of waste to be incinerated therefore there is need to install bigger incinerators. 

To deal with this challenge, Ms Photlokwe said a request to relocate the two incinerators from Scotish Livingstone and Princess Marina Hospitals to the landfill is underway.  

She further said council is considering introducing a prepaid system to deal with those institutions that default payment.

Mr Gaborone however cautioned that the management should not underestimate the negative consequences of privatisation because the revenue that will be generated by the private company could benefit the council.

For his part, Kgosi Keletso Keletso of Gamodubu said it is apparent that Gamodubu residents are affected by the negative effects of the land fill. 

He said he is skeptical that the landfill security personnel is not competent to inspect waste that come to the landfill, alleging that some maybe receiving bribery from foreigners to allow them dispose stuff that is not permitted in the landfill. Ends