The ManicaPost
Post Correspondent
The Zimbabwe Consolidated Company (ZCDC) Private Limited recently rallied stakeholders and the local community in Mutare with the common goal of collecting garbage littered in the eastern border’s Chikanga high density suburb which had become an eyesore and a hazard to the public. The move was catalysed by the passion and spirit of the Provincial Minister of State for Manicaland, Cde Monica Mutsvangwa, who landed running on her first day on the job urging stakeholders to join hands and clean up the city to return its lacklustre.
She had been inspired by the lack of garbage collection in the Diamond Capital where ZCDC has its mining operations in Chiadzwa and Chimanimani.
The exercise, which attracted at least 300 people, was supported by officials from the Provincial Minister of State’s Office, District Administrator, Environmental Management Agency, Mutare City Council, Zimbabwe National Army, Police, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, Mutare Bottling Company and ZCDC.
Students from Mutare Teachers College, Mutare Polytechnic and the local community flooded Aerodrome Road equipped with picks, shovels, forks, spades, slashers, brooms, rakes and plastic bins to remove the trash that had accumulated over the years.
A ZCDC sponsored clean up exercise in Mutare city
While ZCDC, a diamond mining company with a deliberate and effective corporate social initiative policy to change people’s lives, provided 25 bins to be placed at strategic points, the city council arranged on site dump trucks to collect garbage.
The Zimbabwe National Army was also a part of this effort. Not only did the army assist in the clean-up exercise, it provided entertainment much to the delight of participants who danced the afternoon away.
Lucky Basopo, a director in the Provincial Minister of State’s Office, said: “Uncollected garbage is a topical issue. This type of programmes should start at primary school level. If we start at the top we will not achieve our goal. It is estimated that 1,5 million tonnes of solid waste are generated per year in Zimbabwe’s urban areas. This has greatly exposed the general public to disease outbreaks. The primary source of litter among others has been pedestrians and motorists throwing unwanted material in the streets and dumping of waste by shop owners.”
He said the awareness programme was significant because it educated communities on the importance of keeping their cities clean to avoid health hazards.
Adding on to what Basopo said, ZCDC’s Public Relations and Community Development Manager Sugar Chagonda said: “ZCDC has dedicated itself to social corporate responsibility issues such as the clean-up exercise. As ZCDC, we are there for the community.”
The Mayor of Mutare Councillor, Tatenda Nhamarare, also graced the event, which will be an on-going exercise.
