admin
Senior Reporter
At least 93 pedestrians and motorists have been arrested in Harare’s Central Business District for throwing litter on the streets.
The 93 were nabbed under an anti-litter campaign launched last week by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), City of Harare and the police.
“This is an ongoing exercise to make our city clean,” EMA environmental, education and publicity manager Mr Steady Kangata said.
He said the litter bugs were freed after paying US$20 fine each.
Mr Kangata said the anti-litter campaign was aimed at changing the mindset of people to be responsible citizens and keep the city clean.
“This is an ongoing operation and with the installation of cameras on the streets for traffic offences, we will also help us identify litter bugs, trace them and ensure that they are penalised,” he said.
Mr Kangata said according to a research carried out in 2011 by the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, Harare generated 170 million tonnes of waste.
The city has of late become a hub for litter bugs, with the situation worsened by the council’s failure to collect garbage on time and sweep the streets.
Government last year launched a mega clean-up campaign in Harare and announced new laws that made littering a crime following an increase in illegal dumping of litter at undesignated places in the city, residential areas and industry, creating breeding places for disease vectors such as flies, mosquitoes and rodents.
Last year, at least 703 people were arrested and paid US$20 each in littering fines, of those, 500 were pedestrians and the rest were motorists.
A survey done by EMA showed that motorists with deluxe cars litter the most.
Online Reporter