The Maputo Municipality will disburse $8 million to resettle 468 families living near the site chosen for the construction of the new sanitary landfill in the Katembe neighborhood, southern Maputo, Mozambique. According to a report by the newspaper O País, the funds were made available by the World Bank.
“We have decided to accelerate the compensation payments for 138 families, with a total estimated amount of $8 million. We will follow current legislation as well as the funder’s rules, and we expect to complete the process by the end of February,” explained Danúbio Lado, Director of the Strategic Development Office.
He added that the closure of the Hulene landfill depends on the completion of the new sanitary landfill, whose construction is scheduled to begin soon on an area of over 140 hectares. “The public tender for the construction of the infrastructure has already been launched, and a site visit with interested companies is scheduled for 15 February, to clarify doubts and collect additional information.”
“It is necessary to ensure minimum conditions to also proceed with the construction of a road to facilitate access. Everything is progressing according to plan, and we are working intensively to make the sanitary landfill project a reality. It should be noted that without this landfill, it is impossible to definitively close the activities at the Hulene site,” Danúbio Lado clarified.
In 2018, 16 people died following the collapse of part of the Hulene landfill. After the incident, municipal authorities received various forms of support for waste management, but the closure, estimated to cost around $110 million, still has no scheduled date.
According to information released by the government at the time, once closed, the Hulene landfill is expected to serve as a sorting point for solid waste, which will then be transferred to the sanitary landfills in Matlemele, in the Matola municipality, and Katembe, in Maputo city.
It is estimated that more than 1,200 tons of solid waste are deposited daily across the over 25 hectares of Mozambique’s largest landfill, located along Julius Nyerere Avenue.
