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Columbus Mabika and Lesego Valela

The facelift of cities through creation of green spaces and litter-free environments to meet global standards is gaining momentum.

Leading the monthly clean-up campaign at Manyame Airbase yesterday, Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said initiatives by the Government to uplift cities and towns which have experienced years of underdevelopment were beginning to bear fruit.

Chief among the initiatives is the 2018 Presidential declaration on national clean-up running under the theme “Zero tolerance to litter in my environment”.

People and Government had to ensure surroundings were clean and litter free, implementing the constitutional right to an environment that was not harmful to health and wellbeing, she said.

“Initiatives implemented by Government are bearing fruit,” said Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri. “In the same vein beautification of the cities is getting momentum and our cities are getting the necessary facelift through creation of green spaces.”

Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said the beautification of cities was increasing the aesthetic value of the environment and transforming areas to recreational facilities for local and foreign tourism.

Open spaces had been losing their beauty through rampant illegal dumping.

 “Waste management has becoming a menace, especially across urban areas where we have rampant illegal dumps sprouting in residential areas, industrial areas and open spaces,” she said

The option of burying non-biodegradable waste was not advisable, as it would pollute underground water sources.

Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said embracing a circular economy, where waste was recycled for new products, was the answer to waste management challenges.

The emerging recycling sector, she said, had seen a wave of waste transfer centres and material recovery centres being established to turn waste into usable products.

Following the clean-up yesterday, Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri presided over the graduation of a Junior Staff Course at the Airforce of Zimbabwe School of Academic Staff training where she said the Zimbabwe Defence Forces demonstrated great commitment and resolve to gender equity and career development for it’s members.

“I wish to commend the ZDF command element for responding to national aspiration of upholding gender equity,” she said. 

The ZDF had done a splendid job in creating a peacefully and tranquil environment conducive for socio-economic development and had a key role to play in the success of national aspirations.

“We may all be aware that the National Development Strategy 1 is anchored on achieving sustainable economic development through policy interventions in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism, public infrastructure, improved service delivery and health among other sectors,” she said.

In line with the provisions of NDS1, the ZDF would continue to undertake socio-economic development across the wide spectrum of the economy.

When giving military assistance to civil communities, the ZDF would continue to partner communities in the construction of critical infrastructure across the country.

On the diplomatic front, Government’s engagement and re-engagement was bearing fruit which had seen the ZDF establishing bileteral and multi-lateral relations with many defence forces across the globe.

On security challenges, she said the world was under serious threat from climate change as a result of global warming which was undermining human security.