City ups war on garbage, cholera

ZIMBABWEANS should focus on turning the country into an upper middle income state where garbage and cholera are relegated to history, an official has said.

Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba made these remarks during the National Environment Cleaning Day held in Mutare on Wednesday.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the campaign on the same day in Harare.

Dr Gwaradzimba led the clean-up campaign, which saw various stakeholders from all sectors of the economy coming together to make Mutare clean.

The clean-up launch was themed ‘Zero Tolerance to litter- My Environment, My Pride’.

“Maximum hygiene is very important to prevent disease outbreaks in our areas.

“We need to embrace the zero litter campaign and spread the message about the need to keep our environment clean.

“We should all change our mindsets and enhance recycling of garbage.

“We selected a dumping site to dispose all the garbage after the clean-up. The garbage will be converted into energy by environmental gurus,” said Dr Gwaradzimba.

Dr Gwaradzimba urged people to engage in biogas projects and recycle waste and reduce pollution through good waste management practices.

She said a dumping site, which would be used by environmentalists for converting waste into energy for the benefit of the country would be created.

Dr Gwaradzimba also urged residents to be clean and deposit their waste in the right places to avoid disease outbreaks.

EMA provincial environmental manager, Mr Kingstone Chitotombe, said they had been working with local authorities to ensure that waste was managed well from generation to disposal as well as recycle products.

“Increased packaging of consumers’ goods has not only increased the quantity of waste but also the varieties of waste generated, further complicating the problem for local authorities.

“This has greatly exposed the general public to disease outbreaks and epidemics recorded in recent years, the latest being the cholera epidemic, which resulted in precious lives being lost mostly in Buhera, Dangamvura and Chipinge,” said Mr Chitotombe.

Mutare Mayor Mr Blessing Tandi said it was their duty as local authorities to improve service delivery to residents and clear dumpsites.

He also urged residents to co-operate and achieve a litter-free city and restore its cleanliness in the process.

“We want to clean Mutare and raise awareness on the importance of waste management and keeping our environment clean.

“As a city, we have made a commitment to ensure that refuse is collected as per the advised schedule and therefore we expect a change in attitude among residents, which should also ensure that the environment is clean.

“We should have a mindset of recycling the refuse to reduce waste and increase production. There are many youths who want to engage in biogas diversity. We want to reduce the quantity of garbage going into the pit,” said Mr Tandi.

Additionally, Mr Tandi said they were targeting to improve refuse collection especially in the wake of reports on outbreaks of cholera in some areas in Manicaland.

He also hinted that council would continue rehabilitating old sewer pipes to minimise bursts as part of waste management mechanisms to reduce pollution.