admin
Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls
VICTORIA Falls residents in Mkhosana suburb’s BD46 section have mobilised each other to clear an illegal dumping site that has accumulated over the years due to lack of proper water and sanitation services in the resort city.
BD46 houses have no sewer system and residents use septic tanks which they then offload when they fill up. Some have reportedly been disposing of waste in the nearby bush, which forms part of Chamabondo National Park.
Some residents had also turned the bush into an illegal dumping zone creating heaps of garbage which is posing a health hazard.
Inspired by the need to keep the environment clean and maintain the tourism city in its pristine state, some residents came together and formed a committee that is spearheading weekly clean-ups and last Friday was the second week since the start of the initiative.
This follows formation of the Pristine Victoria Falls Society (PVFS) which gave birth to the Victoria Falls waste management taskforce whose mandate is to transform the city into one of the cleanest cities in Africa.
The PVFS stakeholders who comprise individuals, companies and organisations last year formed the taskforce comprising the PVFS, Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Victoria Falls City Council and police to spearhead cleaning. Under the initiative, those organisations and individuals have adopted a certain part of the city to clean on a daily basis in line with the National Clean-up exercise.
Victoria Falls is a resort destination and keeping the streets and environment clean is a top priority.
A news crew visited BD46 yesterday and observed that rubbish that had accumulated in the bush had been cleared.
The committee chairperson Mr Douglas Nekatambe said residents mobilised each other through social media platforms.
“We have a BD46 WhatsApp group where we have been discussing our area which is now filthy and we agreed to clean up the whole area. We then engaged Pristine because we couldn’t do it on our own as we have no money to buy gloves, refuse bags and masks,” he said.
Mr Nekatambe said they agreed to clean the area every Friday and last Friday was their second week since they started the programme.
“It’s been effective and the first exercise gathered over 350 bags of garbage while the second had 200 which means there is a significant reduction in terms of waste dumping,” he said.
Mr Nekatambe said they intend to continue with the clean-up exercise until they clear the area of garbage.
PVFS chipped in with cleaning equipment and residents formed the committee which has representatives from each street in the suburb.
The strategy is that each house sends two people for the clean-up exercise every Friday. The waste management taskforce manager Mr Douglas Musiringofa said the initiative by the residents is an indication of a change of behaviour as a result of awareness campaigns by the PVFS.
The section of the suburb with 585 housing units and an estimated 3 000 people, faces perennial water challenges and residents usually use the bush to relieve themselves.
“Basically the BD46 residents are facing serious challenges as the area is not connected to the sewer reticulation system and collection of refuse is not regular. The unfortunate thing is that this particular area is right at the end of the city along Kazungula road and the bush was their dumping area,” said Mr Musiringofa.
He said since the programme to clean the area started, the dumping of garbage has been drastically reduced.
“We believe this is what we have been longing for in an effort to reclaim our status as the cleanest green city in Africa,” said Mr Musiringofa.
He said the idea should be replicated in other suburbs.
This comes amid concerns over deliberate littering around the Victoria Falls Border.
There is also concern over litterbugs who negate the goals and continue dumping litter around the city especially along roads, behind shops, markets and restaurants.
Plastic waste makes its way into the Victoria Falls National Park (Rainforest) thereby putting wildlife within the park at risk.
Besides the land pollution at the border and edge of the park which is an eyesore to tourists, there is risk of the plastic waste also been washed down into the river thereby causing water pollution?
A clean Victoria Falls is key to the city’s quest to become the cleanest tourist destination in the world and attract more travellers.
Upgraded in 2019, the city has moved an inch closer to becoming a smart green city after implementing a number of projects.
These include the completion of the construction of a low-cost engineered landfill, water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) project to improve sanitation services and solid waste management, installing solar-powered street lights along Livingstone Way and putting zero-emission and climate-neutral activities at the top of the city’s five-year strategic plan.
Online Reporter