Zimpapers Logo

Mukudzei Chingwere-Herald Reporter

Zimbabweans must be serious about recycling waste and take up the opportunities in waste management using the recyclers directory of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Acting President Dr Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday.

The Acting President was speaking after leading the monthly National Clean-up Day at Africa Unity Square in Harare yesterday morning, stressing both the need and the money that could be earned through effective recycling, and the need for people to elect local authorities who could at least collect the garbage. 

Local authorities have been deficient in collecting rubbish in recent months, allowing it to pile up and create health hazards. This failure has kept Zimbabwe with the lingering threat of public health time bombs and Government believes it is high time it moves in to correct the enduring threat.

With the 2023 general elections around the corner, pending a date proclamation by the President, Acting President Chiwenga said this year’s election was an opportunity for urban voters to draw a line in the sand and choose quality, development-oriented representatives.

Most urbanities, particularly in the metropolitan province of Harare have since the turn of the millennium, consistently voted for opposition parties whose candidates have however failed to live to the electorate’s expectation thus resulting in marked regression of development.

Zanu PF, especially under the Second Republic, has however made considerable gains towards regaining the trust of the urban voter on the back of rapid economic transformation being championed by President Mnangagwa leading to an empowered upper middle-income economy by 2030.

“Let me hasten to highlight that waste recovery enables the establishment of a waste vending business, supplying various processors within the recycling value chain,” said Acting President Chiwenga.

“Recycling is not only a billion-dollar industry, but also helps to keep the environment clean. Harare Metropolitan Province produces tonnes of waste products, which we can use to our advantage to build and grow businesses out of waste management.

“Research findings show that only about 10 percent of the recyclable waste generated in the country is recycled, while the remnant is dumped in the environment as residual waste.

“Recycling does not only reduce the volume of waste sent to the landfill but also reduces the cost of waste collection and the amount of energy used to manufacture new products from raw materials. This saves the environment from degradation.

“When we recycle more, we reduce the need for new resources to create products and this helps to reduce our negative impact on the environment.

“To strengthen the recycling business market linkages, the Environmental Management Agency has developed a recyclers directory.

“In my capacity as the Minister of Health and Child Care, I want to call upon everyone to manage our waste properly and remain vigilant, against the backdrop of the recent cholera outbreak cases reported in Harare and other parts of the country.

“We should uphold the ethos for peace, love, tolerance, unity and harmony, that is before, during and after the elections. “It is our duty to ensure that we vote for a party that will restore the City of Harare to its former glory as the Sunshine City,” said Acting President Chiwenga.

The Acting President also said the engagement and re-engagement policy adopted by the Second Republic is starting bearing fruit with the closest example that of President Mnangagwa who is in the United Kingdom at the invitation of the hosts for the coronation of King Charles III.

This month’s clean-up is running under the theme, “Material Recovery- Reduced residual waste in the environment.”

Deputy Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Cde Barbara Rwodzi blasted the local authority for not playing an active role in waste management.

She also commended the national clean-up campaign for its positive impact, the campaign is in its fifth year following its launch in 2018 by President Mnangagwa,” said Cde Rwodzi.

“The programme has been able to inculcate and create an eco-conscience society as shown by the adoption of the best practices in waste management by the people of Zimbabwe.

“An increasing number of individuals, stakeholders and sectors have taken up recycling agenda seriously and they are demystifying the narrative in a positive way and this also conforms to stakeholder participation which remains key in sustainable environmental management in line with National Development Strategy 1.”