Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Online Reporter
THE Gwanda Municipality has been urged to ensure proper disposal of litter in the mining town in order to contain the baboon menace.
The town is using an illegal dumpsite which was condemned last year. The dumpsite is located adjacent to Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle in Gwanda and a few metres from the Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic.
The illegal dumpsite is a major attraction for baboons who flock the area and go on to vandalise property in people’s houses. Some of the baboons stray into the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic College which is situated close to the dumpsite. The dumpsite is also an eyesore for travellers passing along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Highway. Continuous burning at the dumpsite is a serious hazard to the environment.
A game capture team from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) was recently deployed in Gwanda Town to contain baboons that have been terrorising residents.
Responding to questions from stakeholders during a Matabeleland South Provincial Development Committee, an officer from ZimParks, Mr Munyaradzi Mutandwa said they managed to capture some baboons but they had now returned.
“We captured 154 baboons which we trapped at the dumpsite, Mount Cazalet and the Gwanda Provincial Hospital but it seems they have returned. The dumpsite is attracting the baboons and if it could be moved it might help to ward off the animals,” he said.
The local authority in 2015 constructed a compliance landfill with the assistance of World Vision. Last year the Municipality passed a resolution to have moved the dumpsite by end of April last year.
In order for the landfill to start functioning, compactor, bulldozer, front end loader, excavator, weighing scale and a self-weighing compactor truck are needed.
The landfill will help solve the waste disposal challenges the town is facing.
Gwanda Mayor, Cllr Njabulo Siziba said the local authority did not have funds to buy the necessary equipment to get the landfill operational. He said they have engaged some local mining companies to get them to assist with the equipment. Cllr Siziba said council was aware of the effects of the illegal dumpsite and it was seized with the matter.
@DubeMatutu
Online Reporter