Residents of Lusaka’s Mtendere compound have appealed to the Lusaka city council (LCC) to put an end to the high garbage collection fees being charged by Community Based Enterprises (CBE) .
The residents complained that CBE, a company contracted by LCC to collect garbage in the area charges them K50 twice a month.
One of the residents John Zulu, said due to the high fees needed for garbage collection, some people have resorted to dumping litter in undesignated places.
“CBE should be considerate with their charges, they are very expensive and we also want to be paying once in a month, it doesn’t matter how many days they collect garbage in a month” he said.
The residents noted that other areas such as Kalingalinga are charged lower prices for the collection of garbage.
Meanwhile Mtendere area Councillor Chibembele Mutonga said people should change their mindset of wanting the government to collect garbage for free on their behalf.
He said LCC and the CBE agreed that all the households in Mtendere should register with CBE for garbage collection and those who cannot pay full amount at once can pay in installment.
“The fees are fair, everyone can manage to pay and anyone found dumping garbage in undesignated areas the law will deal with them,” Mr. Mutonga said.
He added that at least 20 households in Mtendere were taken to court for illegal dumping of garbage.
And LCC public relations manager George Sichimba acknowledged that CBE works hand in hand with LCC to collect garbage in some townships within Lusaka.
He however said the reason for having different garbage collection fees in different townships was due to the fact that CBE is a private company that has its own charges different from those of the LCC.