Stakeholders clean up City Centre ahead of ZITF

VARIOUS stakeholders in Bulawayo yesterday embarked on a clean-up campaign in selected areas in the city centre as part of efforts to spruce up the city ahead of the 64th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), which kicks off today.

The exercise, which started at around 9am from the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre, the venue of the ZITF, saw officials from the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and other Government departments participating in the clean up.

In an interview after the clean-up, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary, Mr Paul Nyoni, said ZITF is a national event, which will attract both local and international visitors hence the clean-up.

“Generally the ZITF is a big event not just for Bulawayo, but for the country. As citizens we must clean the city for our visitors. We are known for being a clean city and we want to keep that up,” he said.

“We have 26 countries exhibiting this year, last year we had 21 so it shows investor confidence. Kenyan President William Ruto will officially open the ZITF.”

Stakeholders cleaned up areas along Fort Street and Fourth Avenue. Councillor for Ward 17 who is also the deputy chairperson of the local authority’s health, housing, and education committee, Clr Sikhululekile Moyo said it was important to keep a clean environment both before and after the ZITF.

“Today we had a campaign to clean up Bulawayo since we are now heading towards the ZITF Bulawayo is regarded as the cleanest city in the country, and we want to maintain that,” she said.

Bulawayo mayor, Clr David Coltart, applauded various stakeholders for turning out in their numbers to clean the entire city.

“This week is arguably the most important one in the City of Bulawayo calendar and we must present our city in the best possible light to our ZITF guest of honour, the President of Kenya, Dr William Ruto, visiting ambassadors, business people and well-wishers,” he said.

“I am delighted to report that the turn out was excellent. Many people were deployed and cleaned including members of the Zimbabwe National Army, Prisons, BCC and EMA.”