COMMENT : Vendors, residents must play their part in Bulawayo’s cleanliness

Bulawayo City Council, which like many urban local authorities, is grappling with the challenge of maintaining cleanliness in the city, on Monday received 14 refuse bins from the Roman Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP).

Speaking at the handover of the bins, the Mayor Clr David Coltart commended stakeholders that he said were complementing the council’s efforts to keep the city clean. Clr Coltart said maintaining a clean city is a shared responsibility hence council was encouraged when organisations such as CCJP were coming forward to join it in maintaining a clean city.

“The donation of any bins warms my heart, but I am particularly delighted by this donation coming from CCJP,” he said. Clr Coltart, however, said while bins are important, infrastructure alone could not solve the city’s litter problem. “Providing bins is only one part of cleanliness. We need to change our mindset,” said Clr Coltart.

CCJP representative, Father Fikile Dlamini, said the donation was inspired by the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly the principle of the integrity of creation. He said according to the Catholic Church’s social teachings, the congregation should promote human dignity, solidarity, common good and the integrity of creation.

“God created human beings and asked them to care for the earth and as such caring for our surroundings is one of our duties,” said Father Dlamini.

He said environmental protection has become one of CCJP’s key areas of ministry hence church groups across Bulawayo were already conducting regular clean up campaigns around churches, homes and communities.

Father Dlamini said some parishes were now working with residents to promote responsible waste disposal .He said the commission had partnered the city’s cleansing department and other stakeholders to conduct workshops on solid waste management, bringing together council officials and residents to discuss collaborative solutions.

“We want to be part of the solution and these bins are a small contribution but we hope they will carry a strong message that litter belongs to the bins and not on the ground,” said Father Dlamini. Clr Coltart said he hopes the CCJP’s initiative will inspire other churches and organisations to come on board and join in the fight to keep the city clean.

Efforts to keep Bulawayo clean are, however, being hampered by vendors operating in undesignated places in the city centre, individuals washing cars in parking bays or repairing vehicles in sanitary lanes, buses picking and dropping passengers at undesignated places and farmers delivering farm produce on the streets. Agreed, the informal sector contributes significantly to the economic growth of a developing country like ours but this should not be a licence to operate in undesignated places.

Bulawayo City Council has come up with vending sites and vendors should move to these designated places and clear the streets.