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Robin Muchetu, Sunday News Reporter
FIRST Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has encouraged local authorities to partner with various stakeholders in order to improve waste management.
The First Lady was speaking in Bulawayo Central Business District where she led hundreds of citizens who participated in the monthly cleanup programme on Friday.
“My appeal goes to local authorities to proactively address waste management challenges in the areas of their jurisdiction. There is need for local authorities to form synergies with progressive organisations like churches and corporates to ensure that waste management problems are sustainably and holistically dealt with. The cost of being reactive is huge on the fiscus as resources meant for social and economic development will be diverted to fight preventable diseases such as cholera and typhoid.”
The First Lady said it was the desire of every citizen to live in a clean safe and healthy environment and the clean up and subsequent ones were meant to make a contribution towards the full realization of the noble cause which is constitutionally guaranteed.
She said, having noted the challenges that the country was facing, a deliberate move was taken to make a one day per month cleaning programme.
Zimbabwe country took the milestone decision on 5 December last year when President Mnangagwa declared that the first Friday of every month is national clean up day.
Since the maiden launch of the national cleanup programme, great strides have been made of embracing the day and the First Lady said this is evidenced by the increase in the citizen participation in the cleanup program.
“A 1369 percent increase in the number of clean ups was recorded in February 2019 as compared to January. This can be archived if every one of us young and old plays their part in this noble national call. The time for action is now; we need to restore the sanity of our towns and cities. And to this effect let Bulawayo be restored to the City of Kings and Queens status of yesteryear through making sure that we religiously keep it clean,” she said.
The city was commended for its efforts to maintain a clean environment. Locals were also told to take advantage of business opportunities that exist in the recycling value chain as green jobs were being created globally and Zimbabwe was no exception.
“As we clean let us look as waste as a resource where we can get a livelihood from, develop synergies with recycling companies for this to be a reality. The Environment Management Agency is there to assist you in these regard,” she said.
The First Lady said stakeholder participation was important in achieving sustainable waste management. She commended the adoption of zones throughout the country by various companies and also urged the cooperate sector to take advantage of the clean up campaigns to market their corporate image by taking part in the events that are in the vicinity of their clientele.
Meanwhile, more companies including Zimpapers, also joined in the cleanup exercise as the campaign gathers momentum. People’s Own Savings Bank, TelOne and Zimpost also took part where 71 staff members cleaned the roads, pavements and alleys in the area surrounding the Bulawayo Main Post Office building where all three organisations conduct their business operations from.
POSB acting public relations manager, Miss Dionne Mpofu said the national clean up exercise fits together with bank’s corporate responsibility as they are already involved in the “Boreholes for Health” initiative where they seek to provide safe drinking water to rural communities.
“As POSB, the national clean up exercise dovetails with the Health and Philanthropy pillar of the Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy which has seen the implementation of several programs aimed at providing sustainable support to Zimbabwean communities in need. One such initiative is the ongoing ‘Boreholes for Health’ program under which the Bank seeks to provide clean and safe water to health care institutions in the various provinces of the country through the installation of fully functional boreholes,” Miss Mpofu said.
POSB also partnered with other organizations for the exercise in Victoria Falls, Gwanda, Zvishavane, Masvingo, Gokwe, Gweru and Harare.
The respective POSB branches in these areas conducted business operations as normal throughout the clean-up exercise.
Miss Mpofu said as POSB, they were committed to the National Cleanup Day exercise with plans to spread to other parts of Bulawayo in the coming months.
“POSB remains committed to this and other initiatives which are aimed at making our workplaces, communities, homes and the general environment clean and healthy for all. In Bulawayo, future clean-up efforts will also be extended to cover other areas of the city as well,’’ she said.
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