Clean-up to mark Unity Day

Samantha Chigogo Herald Correspondent
Government has launched a massive clean-up campaign as part of Unity Day commemorations today with a view to fight littering and environmental pollution countrywide.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ platform on waste management in Harare recently, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said the ministry, in conjunction with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the City of Harare and civil society would lead the clean-up today.

She emphasised the importance of unity in fostering national cohesion, saying failure to unite against extensive littering was a ticking time bomb in most places in the central business district (CBD) and residential areas.

“The dirt in Harare is too much and Government is launching a cleaning programme. We invite all companies to join hands in cleaning the streets of Harare and the nation at large as these campaigns will be carried out in most of the cities and countrywide,” she said.

“Let us (Government) unite with manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers to commemorate Unity Day in a significant way by engaging and uniting against those who pollute the environment.”

She said the army had pledged to participate and support stakeholders in picking up litter and cleaning the city.

Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri urged Zimbabweans to commemorate Unity Day through direct involvement in the campaign.

“All retailers should account for the waste they generate from imported products. They should declare how much they are importing and what is being done to manage the waste.”

Over 500 anti-litter monitors have been trained and dispatched across the city in an effort to contain environment pollution, which if not closely monitored could lead to disease outbreaks such as cholera and typhoid.

Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri recently read the riot act to manufacturers, litter bugs and other polluters giving them a six-month grace period to polish up their acts against polluting the environment.

For example, mobile phone companies were given six months to phase out recharge scratch cards.