Highfield to hold clean up campaign

HIGHFIELD residents will on Saturday embark on a clean-up campaign aimed at collecting garbage in most parts of the area to ensure a clean environment.

The clean-up campaign is being organised by a local businessman Mr Norbert Chikumbo in partnership with other organisations in the area.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Chikumbo said they had come up with the initiative since Harare City Council could not go it alone.

The residents are expected to gather at Zimbabwe Grounds around 8am before the exercise.

“This clean-up campaign is aimed at cleaning up our area,” said Mr Chikumbo.

“The city council cannot do it alone and that is why we have decided to engage the community.”

Mr Chikumbo said of concern was that a lot of people were dumping garbage everywhere, posing a health hazard in the area.

He said they would also be donating bins to the people after the clean-up campaign, while there would be vehicles moving around at houses collecting garbage.

“Those who cannot make it to the campaign can also clean-up their houses and nearby areas so that the vehicles that will be moving around can simply collect the garbage from their respective places or areas,” Mr Chikumbo said.

In February, there were reports that a local environmental concern, PCF Waste Management Company, was set to receive over 500 refuse trucks and skip bins from FAW Zimbabwe to complement local authorities in refuse collection.

PCF, which is partnering local authorities in refuse collection, was setting up an effective solid waste management strategy, amid concerns that councils were struggling to manage waste largely because of inadequate and malfunctioning plant and equipment.

It had concluded an agreement with Msasa-based trucks manufacturing company FAW Zimbabwe, which availed more than 500 refuse trucks and skip bins.

The development came in the wake of an outbreak of diseases such as typhoid, cholera and diarrhoea in major towns and cities. Waste management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing Zimbabwe.

The volume of waste generated continues to increase at a faster rate than the local authorities’ ability to improve on the financial and technical resources needed to parallel this growth.

Local authorities are struggling to manage the waste due to inadequate and malfunctioning equipment, as well as inefficient collection practices.

Other factors affecting the local authorities to deal with waste are lack of environmental control systems, burning of garbage in open spaces and indiscriminate illegal dumping and littering.