Online Reporter
Amos Mpofu [email protected]
TSHOLOTSHO South MP and Deputy Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities, Musa Ncube, has urged rural communities to take Government-led clean-up campaigns seriously, saying environmental hygiene is key to preventing diseases and fighting the effects of climate change.
Deputy Minister Ncube made the remarks during the World Cleanup Day commemorations held at Sikente Business Centre in Tsholotsho on Thursday.
The event was organised by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) in partnership with Tsholotsho Rural District Council and the Enhanced Livelihoods and Nutrition Adaptation (ELINA) programme, implemented by the Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO).
She said keeping communities clean, protecting vegetation and planting trees should be a shared responsibility.
“I expected school children to be here so that we practically teach them how important this programme is. We would effectively teach them that messing their communities leads to many effects on their communities.
It’s them who eat and throw away the packaging of these junk foods without the knowledge of the effects this has on their community, like when these papers are eaten by our livestock, they die,” said the Deputy Minister.
She said parents also had a role to play in teaching children good hygiene habits at home.
The Deputy Minister also urged businesspeople at Sikente Business Centre to maintain high standards of cleanliness, saying a clean environment could help attract customers.
“We are facing challenges of climate change which is usually caused by us from not making sure that we maintain our hygienic standards. This affects mostly us people in the rural areas where rain won’t be falling anymore and the temperatures will be too harsh,” she said.
Deputy Minister Ncube further called on communities to protect vegetation and participate in afforestation and reforestation programmes, stressing that trees were essential to life.
She said trees provide oxygen, prevent soil erosion and provide food for animals, while proper waste management protects both domestic and wild animals from consuming harmful waste.
“The world and national clean-up campaign are programmes which are serious and designed to benefit us all,” she said.
