By Correspondent
GeoPomona is two years behind schedule having failed to achieve targets which had been set in the initial agreement.
According to Schedule 6 and 13 of its agreement, it was supposed to have set up a sorting and recycling plant.
This should have been complete at the end of the first 12 months which was in March 2023.
Also expected to have been complete was the partial closing of the current landfill at Pomona dumpsite.
The company was also supposed to improve Pomona landfill’s municipal solid waste treatment and management in line with EU directives.
GeoPomona has also missed the deadline in constructing a leachate treatment plant.
The purpose of leachate treatment is to remove harmful constituents so the treated water can be safely discharged.
Leachate is high in ammonia which is toxic and so must be removed prior to discharge.
Second Year Targets
The Delish Nguwaya led company has also missed targets which were set for the second year.
These include the construction of a sorting and recycling plant and the construction of a cell for municipal solid waste.
GeoPomona has also failed to construct an incinerator capable of processing 500 tonnes per day.
Also missing is a constructed cell for ashes.
The revelations are an ominous warning after Government pushed ahead with the deal despite Harare Council refusing the project.
Albanian Woes
Meanwhile the failures may be a reflection of the challenges Nguwaya’s Albanian partner Mirel Mërtiri is facing in his country.
Mërtiri was found guilty of corruption and one of his waste-to-energy entities was seized by the Albanian government.
Albanian prosecutors seized the company in Tirana, alleging that it is a front for two fugitive businessmen.
The two are Mërtiri and one Klodian Zoto.
The project’s operations cost the Albanian taxpayers at least 100 million euros.
According to prosecutors, the investigation found out that Zoto and Mertiri are ‘de facto’ owners of the company.
They had won the contract to build a landfill and incinerator and renovate the existing waste dump in Tirana.
Prosecutors said that the two, who have fled Albania, are also the de facto owners of the mother company registered in the Netherlands.
That company is GeoGenix BV which partnered with Nguwaya for the GeoPomona project.
Mertiri and Zoto are also accused of bribing Albania’s former environment minister Lefter Koka.
Koka is being charged with appropriating some 5.1 million euros through a network of fake companies that issued invoices to firms that won contracts.
GeoPomona is anticipated to generate electricity with a capacity of up to 22MW through waste-to-energy technology.
However, little towards that has been done as of now.