adminRumbidzai Tawanda
Now that the nation is past the euphoria of the harmonised elections and Heroes holidays, it is time for us to focus on collectively building our nation and economy.
The time is ripe for us to get our act together and continue with preparations for the momentous 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly which we are co-hosting with Zambia from August 24 to 29.
UNWTO will certainly provide an ample opportunity to get the country’s economic growth rolling and as such it is imperative that, as a nation, we put our best foot forward by ensuring that we are as prepared as possible to host the world.
One definite and undemanding way of ensuring our preparedness for this momentous opportunity is by cleaning our country up.
It is very unfortunate that there are some of us who are not inclined towards disposing of litter in an appropriate manner.
That, coupled with the fact that the run up to elections with its entire excitement saw most of the places of interaction littered with campaign material, has resulted in public spaces not looking very presentable.
True, our city fathers sometimes seem to intermittently develop amnesia and forget to clean and collect refuse, but they are making marked efforts in keeping our living spaces clean.
We should also play our part and clean up after ourselves.
It would be very unfortunate if all the efforts the country has made towards preparing for the UNWTO indaba were to be marred by a seemingly mundane issue like cleanliness. Thus it should be everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we “keep Zimbabwe clean” by disposing of all litter appropriately, not just for UNWTO, but for our own hygiene and for ensuring zero harm to the environment.
In a show of commitment towards a cleaner Zimbabwe and Zero Harm to the environment, Mimosa Mining Company will be supporting the Environmental Management Agency in an extensive clean-up exercise in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Scheduled to run from August 15 to 17, the exercise will probably be one of the biggest this country has ever witnessed. It will cover the entire town from the industrial area, central business district area, hotels and residential areas.
By the time the clean-up is done, Victoria Falls will most certainly be spotless and ready to host a session of UNWTO’s magnitude. What will remain to be seen is whether the status quo will continue to prevail long post UNWTO.
It takes no effort to dispose of litter appropriately, only a sense of responsibility for environmental preservation. I chuckled to myself the other day when I witnessed a young mother being chastised by her son for throwing paper on the ground.
Naturally, the reprimanded mother almost sank in embarrassment, but she picked the paper and threw it in a refuse bin which was only a few metres away.
The incident took me back to my childhood days when we were always on the lookout for people throwing dirt about, ready to taunt them with our often off-tune little ditty that went “Litter bug, litter bug, shame on you!” We would make sure we continued until the “litter bugs” picked up after themselves and disposed of their refuse appropriately.
Yes, our jibes got us spanked once or twice, but we were always satisfied when our calls for cleanliness were heeded. Even as children, we were aware that there was something fundamentally wrong with littering. It was wrong to litter then, it is still wrong to do so now.
So every time you are tempted to litter, imagine being chided by a group of barefooted children, following you until you pick up after yourself.
Embarrassing, wouldn’t it be?
Rumbidzai Tawanda can be contacted on: [email protected]
Online Reporter