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Elita Chikwati

Senior Reporter

The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry is impressed by individuals and corporates observing the National Clean-Up Day in response to President Mnangagwa’s call and vision of a cleaner country

The clean-up initiative ensures the country has sustainable environment management and waste disposal systems.

President Mnangagwa in 2018 declared the first Friday of each calendar month as a National Environment Cleaning Day and this has seen corporates and individuals participating in cleaning their surroundings while others have gone to process waste and generate revenue.

Yesterday, the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Mangaliso Ndlovu led the campaign at Five Avenue Shopping Centre in Harare, where he expressed satisfaction with the response from individuals in keeping their environment clean.

He, however, challenged local authorities to improve waste collection.

Minister Ndlovu said his Ministry was working with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to ensure there were stiffer penalties for local authorities failing to execute their waste collection duties.

“This first Friday of December is our second anniversary since our President launched the programme in December 2018.

“We are excited by what we have seen so far. The general consciousness around cleanliness is seen and observed across communities. Where we are today (Five Avenue shops), is such one example where communities are able to pile rubbish in one place. The only disappointing part is that we would expect local authorities to complement that effort,” he said.

Minister Ndlovu said local authorities should not leave rubbish to pile up or else they face stiffer penalties.

“We cannot be fighting Covid-19, but failing to do the simple things. Refuse collection is a major issue, especially in the city of Harare. I am observing this in a number of places where dumpsites are increasing and I appreciate that within the communities, people are now able to pick up litter and they are identifying places where they can dump with the hope that the city council will be able to come and pick it up.

“Generally, we are quite excited that the President’s message and vision of a cleaner Zimbabwe is felt by Zimbabweans. It’s something that we engage our local authorities on. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has been quite inclusive in the approach, trying to help capacitate local authorities in soil waste management,” said Minister Ndlovu.

In Mutare, the clean-up campaign was at Forbes Border Post, where stakeholders joined forces to make the port of entry cleaner following the reopening of borders on Tuesday.

Mutare District Environmental officer Mrs Odette Chipunza said the border post is the face of Zimbabwe for travellers coming from Mozambique and needed to be maintained in a clean state.

“We have investors that come through the border and since the borders have been reopened and traffic is increasing, we felt it necessary to make Forbes our last venue for the clean-up campaign this year,” she said.