Chronicle Editor
Flora Fadzai Sibanda
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VARIOUS stakeholders yesterday urged local authorities to stiffen laws against pollution as a means to protect the environment.
They said firmer penalties should be put in place in order to deter people from polluting the environment.
Stakeholders including residents, the uniformed forces, officials from the Environmental Management Agency, Zesa, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Zimparks, health groups and environmental beauty pageants said pollution would continue to be a perennial problem if perpetrators are not reigned in.
Speaking during a clean-up campaign in the City Centre yesterday, EMA provincial manager Sithembisiwe Ndlovu said efforts are being made to encourage behavioural change towards waste management so that people stop littering.
She said in creating awareness, they are hoping to achieve the cleanliness that everyone desires.
“We hope that people will be able to change their mindsets around waste management. We’re happy with the amount of waste recycling we’re seeing around the city and hope most people will also follow the initiative and ensure that the city is brought back to its former glory,” said Ndlovu.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube was represented by the Director of Affairs and Investment in her office, Simon Saunyama, who applauded members of the public for religiously participating in the clean-up campaign that is held every first Friday of the month.
He said the cleaning of the streets is quite commendable because after cleaning, the progress is visible and it is a lesson to others to keep the city clean.
“After leaving this place clean, the people who work here will have to adopt a culture of cleanliness because they would have seen how clean the environment would be,” said Saunyama.
He pleaded with businesses to release their workers for clean-ups so that everyone is involved.
Bulawayo resident, Bongani Zondo, said people should come together to fight pollution.
He said because environmental laws are not very harsh, people find it easy to break them.
“As it is, if one is found littering, the punishment they are given is not as stiff as it should be so it makes it easy for people to just litter without caring much. And because there are no environmental police officers that are always on the ground, it’s very hard for those who are found guilty to be arrested and brought into the hands of justice,” said Zondo.
Another resident, Zenzo Siziba said clean-ups should not be limited to first Fridays of the month only but should be done on a daily basis so that people can be fully educated on why littering is bad.
He said apart from awareness campaigns, there should be stiff penalties for flouting environmental laws.
“There is so much money that can be made from the litter that everyone is throwing around. People should concentrate on keeping the area clean and putting all their rubbish into good use. But because people don’t want to do that, strict laws against pollution should be introduced. That way people won’t make the mistake of littering and we will be able to go back to the City’s glory days,” said Siziba.
He said it was sad to note that most people who attend clean-up campaigns are from organisations and residents seem to be ignoring the plea to clean the environment.
Another resident, Ellen Pachita, said although the progress seems slow, people seem to be adhering to the call to keep the City clean.
She said this is evidenced by how businesspeople and other local health groups are also joining the clean-up campaigns.
“A great example is the informal vendors at the market. They’re trying by all means to keep their place clean as seen by how they’re now making sure to sweep and put all their garbage in one place so that the City Council can collect it. I think we will win this fight especially now that the whole country seems to be taking part,” said Pachita. -@flora_sibanda
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