Councillors irked by poor food packaging and dirty in the city

Bulawayo Councillors have expressed concerns over the poor packaging by some restaurants in the city.

According to council latest minutes Councillor Gideon Mangena was concerned about food packaging from Restaurants and Take Away out lets.

"Food was packaged in kalite containers which caused street littering in the C.B.D. Restaurant should be encouraged to serve their food in plates and consumed within the premises. The area around the City Hall was dirty
and more refuse bins should be provided at strategic places and relevant by-laws enforced street littering offenders should be dealt with accordingly," reads the minutes. "Councillors E. Rafomoyo observed that the CBD was very dirty Anti-littering by-laws should be enforced. Vendors in the CBD should assist in the cleaning of their areas. A report on the CBD street sweepers staffing should be submitted accordingly. Introducing of shift work for street sweeping should also be considered."

The minutes states that Councillor Mlalazi said the area around City Hall was very dirty during weekends.

"In her Ward (18) an organization called MACALT had communicated with residents to dump all scrap metals at illegal dump sites. Council was facing transport challenges in clearing these dump sites," reads the minutes. "Councillor M. Lubimbi concurred. She also said that dumping of scrap metal from Ward 18 had extended to her Ward (29). Vendors should clean their vending sites at the end of the day. Councillor N. Hlabani felt that Council should ensure that the CBD was clean at all times. Economic hardships faced by the country had brought in many negative changes. Some restaurants were now selling take-away foods. It would be prudent for Council to deal with this issue-littering. By-law enforcement should be effective. The Deputy Chairperson (Councillor L. Siziba) felt that anti-littering campaigns should be carried out. Flyers with anti-littering messages should be distributed."

The minutes states that the Chairperson (Councillor Ngwenya) said that on her Ward (6) cleaning was carried out by a group of 6 street sweepers who performed their duties properly.

"There was lack of supervision in the cleaning of the C B D, hence the need to introduce community sweepers in this area. In response to various questions, the Acting Director of Health Services explained that littering was now a habit among some residents. There was need for an educational campaign so that the city was kept clean at all times," states the minutes. "He advised that the CBD was a busy area and this contributed to street littering. There were also staffing challenges regarding street sweeping. Council made an effort to deploy more
street sweepers in busy areas. There was less littering in residential areas because residents policed one another."