Nation embraces clean-up
THE nation is embracing the National Clean-up Day, with more corporates and individuals participating and also aiming towards boosting the tourism sector and income generation through recycling of waste.
President Mnangagwa declared the first Friday of each calendar month as a National Clean-Up Day as the Government moves to ensure the country has sustainable environment management and waste disposal systems.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) provincial environmental planning and monitoring officer Mrs Amkela Sidange said they had recorded an increase of 1 369 percent in the number of people participating in the clean-ups last month and this month.
“There has been an increase in stakeholder involvement in the clean-ups from 93 in January 2019, which was the first clean-up after the launch on December 5, 2018 to 107 in February 2019 and there are projections for the figure to rise in the coming events,” she said.
Mrs Sidange said the national clean-up was also promoting environmental stewardship in the society.
“So far, the agency has recorded 29 key stakeholders active in environmental activities, which include Government, industry, retailers, civil society, churches, academia, political fraternity, officials, media, traditional leadership, local authorities and non-governmental organisations.
“A record of 1 369 percent increase in clean-ups was recorded between January and February clean-up events.
“There has been an increased in sectoral-initiated and promoted clean-ups, especially by the corporate society, churches and civic organisations,” she said.
Mrs Sidange said the clean-up programme had the potential to promote a clean environment and most importantly re-use and recycling of waste, thus promoting a green economy.
“The overall benefit of the clean-up programme is that it promotes a clean, safe and healthy environment for the nation in terms of Section 73 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Thus it promotes a constitutional right for every citizen of Zimbabwe,” she said.
The exercise was also expected to increase income generation through waste recycling and tourism, with Government also saving on expenditure as the money that was supposed to be used for curing diseases would be channelled towards other uses.
Some informal traders were also expecting that the monthly exercise would boost their businesses as individuals and corporates purchase cleaning equipment and detergents.
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority spokesman Mr Godfrey Koti yesterday said tourism thrives in a clean and disease-free environment.
“Zimbabwe has been getting positive coverage in the international media and was recently named by various renowned media houses as a must-visit destination. These are Lonely Planet, National Geographic, UK Telegraph and Frommer, who have affirmed to the world that Zimbabwe is in the top three best destinations in travel.
“A clean destination tends to attract the right kind of attention and spending muscle from different source markets. We are in competition with other destinations for that tourist and there is no doubt that they would rather go to a cleaner and better managed destination that has great service. This, on its own, makes projected revenue losses bigger, especially if the destination is not clean and the reverse is accurate,” he said.
Mr Koti said the cleaner the country is, the better the chances of enhancing the projected revenue.
“The sector growth that we witnessed in 2018 will definitely rise in 2019 if we continue on effective and concerted destination management efforts. The benefits for Brand Zimbabwe are immeasurable and clear for everyone to see.
“Rwanda is a closer example of how such dynamism has positively impacted on the tourist receipts, which is one of the major revenue earners for that country. Zimbabwe has potential to do far much better, but there is need for us to take ownership of such an initiative,” he said.
Harare City Council spokesman Mr Michael Chideme said besides the health benefits, the country was also going to create employment through the operation.