People should take Cde Chinotimba seriously

The call by Buhera South legislator, Cde Joseph Chinotimba, dedicated to cleaning cities and other areas to ensure that the country is free of dirty and to avoid the spread of diseases, should ring a bell to all Zimbabweans so that his call does not fall on deaf ears. Such a call is a noble one considering that most of our cities are littered with dirty which is a threat to people`s health. In fact Cde Chinotimba should have called for at least a day every month for cleaning.

Cde Chinotimba`s idea should be embraced by everyone in Zimbabwe as the outbreak of diseases in a country can affect anyone either directly or indirectly. So it is a duty of everyone to make sure that his/her surroundings are clean so that diseases that are associated with dirty environments, for example Cholera and diarrheas are prevented.

Speaking, while carrying a one man cleaning campaign in Harare's Mbare suburb some few days ago, Cde Chinotimba said that members of parliament and councilors were equally affected by dirty and should also take part in the cleaning up campaign. His call to everyone to get involved in the cleanup campaign means that everyone should make sure that his/her surrounding is clean from garbage or anything that is called dirty.

Some people may not take Cde Chinotimba`s call seriously but those who lost their friends and relatives in 2008 during the Cholera outbreak in the suburbs of Budiriro and other suburbs in Harare would agree with him that there is  need to make sure that Zimbabwean cities are kept clean. The Cholera outbreak that swept through the country in 2008 caused Zimbabwe to be in the international spotlight as the World health Organisation dispatched health officials who helped to arrest the situation. Zimbabwe was said to have failed to manage its health affairs yet it was just some few people who failed to keep their environment clean causing the outbreak of that disease.

For that reason, getting our cities to be littered with dirty everywhere is not a good thing at a time when the country is expecting tourism to flourish. Any country with dirty all over its cities is not good for tourism marketing and, hence, Cde Chinotimba`s idea for the country to come up with a particular day meant for the cleanup of every city in the country is commendable.

The situation prevailing in the various suburbs in the capital city, Harare, calls for the responsible authorities to make sure that the city returns to its "Sun Shine City" status by making sure that it is clean. Some years back, it was unheard of to have sewage pipes bursting and letting out human waste close to food outlets in cities.

This writer was surprised to see people rushing to a food outlet, in Harare, just close to where the sewage stream was. It was a sorry state to see people jostling to buy food when human waste was flowing without city fathers attempting to rectify the problem. For that reason, some people who did not withstand the stench and oduor coming from that sewage stream abandoned buying the food, thereby making the owner of that food outlet lose business.

Surprisingly, the sewage waste was flowing uncontrollably, just some few metres away, along Julius Nyerere where the Town House is located. Some city fathers are housed there every day as they operate from there, yet on that particular afternoon, they acted as if there was nothing taking place close to their workplace. It was surprising that even the workers at that food outlet failed to arrest the situation yet they expected people to come and fill their empty stomachs when the sewage was flowing like the flooded river.

As such, the one-man demonstration by Cde Chinotimba, calling for the national day of cleaning to be set aside in the country, should get support from any rightful thinking individual because the situation in the country calls for such a day. In Harare, one cannot walk for some ten or so metres without getting disturbed by stench emanating from uncollected garbage.

Vending is an income generating business for those not formally employed; but the way how vending is taking place in the country, in general and Harare in particular, calls for the city fathers to take an urgent move to rectify such a menace. Some of the litter which has become the order of the day in the streets of Harare is caused by uncontrolled vendors selling fruits, sweets and biscuits.

So the City of Harare and other cities need to come up with good plans that make sure that places designed for vendors are made available. Permanent places for such people, who are in the vending business, should be made available so that litter management becomes easier.

The corporate world should also come in support of cities where they are operating in by providing staff and possible vehicles to carry away garbage so that it is thrown where it is supposed to be destroyed. In actual fact some of the garbage that is making some cities dirty is from such companies operating in those cities so it would be good for them to make sure that they help to arrest the situation by providing appropriate plans meant to clean towns and cities where they would be operating in.

As such a day for national cleaning as advocated for by Cde Chinotimba should be set aside so that everyone get involved in this cleanup campaign for our country so it becomes clean everywhere.