Online Reporter
BULAWAYO, once lauded as Zimbabwe’s cleanest city, is now grappling with a shameful and dangerous crisis — mountains of uncollected garbage piling up across residential suburbs and the central business district. The situation has reached alarming proportions, with residents choking on the stench and forced to navigate through heaps of refuse that have become a permanent fixture in their communities.
This is not just a matter of aesthetics. It is a public health emergency in the making. The accumulation of waste has created fertile breeding grounds for disease, attracting flies, rodents and other vermin that pose serious health risks. Children play near these dumps, unaware of the invisible dangers lurking beneath. The elderly and immunocompromised are particularly vulnerable, and yet the local authority appears paralysed, unable or unwilling to act with the urgency the situation demands.
The Bulawayo City Council has dropped the ball — spectacularly and unforgivably. Their explanation that only four refuse compactors are currently operational, while eleven are undergoing repairs, is not just inadequate — it is an indictment of poor planning, weak asset management, and a lack of strategic foresight. How did the city’s waste management infrastructure deteriorate to such a level without any contingency measures in place? Where is the accountability?
Residents, left with no viable alternatives, have resorted to burning garbage in open spaces. This desperate act, while understandable, is both illegal and hazardous. The Environmental Management Agency has rightly condemned the practice, citing the health and environmental dangers it poses. But what choice do residents have when the council fails to fulfil its most basic mandate?
The council’s promise to resume fortnightly collections is a band-aid on a festering wound. What is needed is a comprehensive and immediate response. Emergency clean-up operations must be launched without delay. If the council lacks the capacity, it must swallow its pride and engage private contractors or seek assistance from central Government. The health and dignity of Bulawayo’s residents cannot be held hostage to bureaucratic inertia.
Furthermore, the council must communicate transparently with residents. Silence and vague assurances only breed frustration and mistrust. Ratepayers deserve to know what is being done, when it will be done, and how the council plans to prevent such a crisis from recurring.
This is a moment for leadership. The city’s reputation, its public health, and the trust of its residents are all on the line. The council must rise to the occasion, not with platitudes, but with decisive action. Bulawayo deserves better. Its people deserve better. And the time to act is now.
