By Tendai Guvamombe
The national cleanup campaign is anchored on ensuring a safe environment with the government planning to cascade the initiative to all provinces beginning with cities and towns.
Riding on this wave, Harare Municipality aims to attain a world class city status by 2030. Since the Presidential Declaration of every Friday as National Cleanup Campaign Day, stakeholders, corporates, civic societies and religious organisations have thrown their weight behind the initiative.
The government through the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry has been playing a leading role in championing the national clean up exercise amid revelations that civil society organisations and religious bodies have come on board with a common vision desiring to beautify the urban environment.
The nationwide clean up campaigns held so far have been significant to enlighten citizens that the program calls for everyone’s attention to help deliver the nation from waste disposals which had gone rampant in the form of litter and garbage.
According to the Permanent Secretary of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mr. Munesu Munodawafa, the Ministry has identified what it termed ‘hotspot zones’ loaded with waste and garbage which are in dire need of collaborative efforts.
“The National Cleanup Campaign which will be taken to identified ‘hotspot zones’ calls for a collaborative move where everyone would be part of success and we will be successful.”
Among the identified ‘hotspots zones’ in the Central Business District (CBD) is Simon Muzenda Road (former 4th Street) and First Street as well as VID Eastlea where Food World Supermarket is expected to give a hand.
Most residential suburbs of Harare are involved in the National Cleanup Exercise Programme with the ministry and relevant corporate organisations targeting the Westlea Suburb this coming Friday.
The Ministry of Local Governments has also been significant in the clean up exercise where it has tremendously worked in ‘hotspot zones’ of the seven districts identified with more than three cleanup programs championed so far.
The collaborative efforts in the National Cleanup exercise is a major relief to the City of Harare which has been single handedly grappling with waste management in the Capital over the past years.
With everyone coming on board the National Cleanup programme will ultimately yield more merits than disasters through drifting from dark city to a City of choice where garbage and cases of cholera outbreaks will be a talk of the past.