Online Reporter
Peter Matika [email protected]
THE Bulawayo City Council has stepped up efforts to curb illegal dumping with councillors calling for tougher enforcement and a sustained programme to clear illegal dumpsites.
According to latest council minutes, concern has been raised on dumpsites mushrooming across suburbs, which are putting pressure on community cleaners.
The council’s health and housing directorate has said the trend is now undermining efforts to restore cleanliness in the city.
Its latest cleansing report shows that while daily street sweeping and clean-up campaigns were being conducted, refuse collection in the central business district remained below ideal levels because of shortages of collection vehicles.
During the reporting period, an average of five refuse compactors were available each day in the CBD, while council had to engage members of the Bulawayo Waste Management Truckers Association to complement its refuse collection operations.
Councillors have said illegal dumping was not only an eyesore but was also placing an unnecessary burden on council’s limited resources.
They called for the eradication of the dumpsites and an increase in the number of community sweepers across the city.
The councillors emphasized that illegal dumping and littering should be stopped through stronger enforcement, pointing to Ward 18 where illegal dumping had reportedly declined significantly because of effective policing and by-law enforcement involving residents.
They urged other wards to emulate the approach used in Ward 18 while calling for the reintroduction or expansion of designated legal dumpsites in residential areas.
Councillors also said they have previously designated and marked pieces of land where residents could dispose of waste before council’s plant and equipment cleared the refuse.
They also noted that the city’s expansion had resulted in increased waste generation, making it necessary to increase the number of community sweepers in line with the expanded ward boundaries.
The councillors said the shortage of refuse collection vehicles was hampering service delivery.
