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Victor Maphosa Herald Correspondent

ZIMBABWEANS have been commended for heeding the call by authorities to clean their homes during Friday’s clean-up exercise.

The normal monthly community clean-up drills were postponed as a result of the lockdown and the earlier ban of public gatherings of more than 50 people so people were asked to mark the monthly awareness day by cleaning their own yards, rather than neighbourhoods.

Speaking to The Herald at the end of last week, EMA director for environmental services Mr Steady Kangata commended all citizens for heeding the call. He said the day was full of activity as people were busy tidying their backyards.

“The whole idea of the launch was to keep our environment clean and for that to be successful, people were encouraged to begin by cleaning their homes. As you know, charity begins at home.

“So we observed today that a lot of families heeded the call to clean their backyards. We cherish that and we keep on encouraging them to continue with the exercise and keep their environment clean and healthy.”

Mr Kangata said the idea to clean public places is to complement efforts by local authorities in ensuring cleanliness.

President Mnangagwa on December 5, 2018 declared the first Friday of each calendar month as the National Environment Cleaning Day, as Government moved in to ensure the country has a sustainable environment management and waste disposal system. The monthly awareness day was meant to raise concern for the environment and encourage people to start keeping it clean on all the other days of each month.

Since then he has been leading from the front sweeping at different venues across the country.

His call has been embraced positively by all progressive citizens, with many seeing the benefits of a cleaner environment.