ZDECO fined for city littering Bulawayo

THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) on Thursday arrested and fined four more private colleges in Bulawayo, among them the Zimbabwe Distance Education College (ZDECO) belonging to the estate of the late Zanu-PF politburo member Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, for littering the city.

This was after college officials were caught red-handed distributing fliers at the Bulawayo City Hall car park to school pupils waiting for transport to their homes.

EMA Bulawayo provincial manager, Decent Ndlovu yesterday confirmed the arrests, saying the government was serious about keeping the environment clean, urging all institutions and individuals to uphold the standards of cleanliness.

"We arrested four more private colleges for littering the city yesterday and fined them $100 each. These colleges are ZDECO, Trust Academy, Precise College and ITMA College," Ndlovu said.

"Their officials were distributing fliers at City Hall car park to children and as soon as they were given the fliers they could throw them around, thereby, littering the park. We found the officials in the process of distributing the fliers and we gave them tickets of $100 each as first offenders and warned them to stop using such a method in advertising their institutions. We are saying they must advertise in a proper manner rather than through these fliers which leaves the city littered."

Ndlovu said some of the college officials threatened to meet EMA in court, but later gave in to paying the fines.

EMA this week dragged Herentals College to court after arresting it for reneging on paying a fine of $500 for two counts of littering the city by throwing around fliers.