BULAWAYO – A group of residents from Bulawayo’s Luveve suburb coalescing under the Mafakela Health and Environment Taskforce (MHET) are piloting the city’s first waste-separation-at-source project in their community.
The initiative is in line with newly-ended mayor David Coltart’s call for residents to take ownership and restore the city’s reputation as one of the cleanest in the country.
Through their programmes manager Nomusa Mguni, the taskforce comprising the elderly said it was fully behind the mayor’s call for a clean and disease-free city.
“We are promoting what we believe to be a first in Bulawayo, the separation of waste at source (household and institution) as part of the recycling project,” Mguni told ZimLive this past week.
“We are urging residents to separate their refuse, disposing plastic in different bags, because of its non-biodegradable nature.
“Plastic is undesirable for disposal in the environment; they are also a flooding hazard as they choke storm drainages and urban rivers, especially with climate change and the possible heavy rains that come with it.
“The taskforce has done awareness campaigns and some capacity building in collaboration with Bulawayo City Council (BCC), a local recycling company and Environment Management Agency (EMA) to promote the removal of plastics from domestic waste.
“That plastic and other plastics from various sources are sold for recycling, recouping some cash for the organisation.”
Mguni added, “The project was inspired by the desire from residents of Mafakela to live in a clean and healthy environment to curb disease and improve living standards.
“Realizing that the City Council was not able to deliver as expected due to the myriad of reasons affecting them, Mafakela community decided to be part of the solution as opposed to just complaining and finger-pointing.”
She said residents were called to take up the initiative as it was apparent there is no form of funding for the project.
“Residents volunteer their time and tools to do the work. EMA and BCC chip in when they can through supply of refuse bags, brooms, and paper pokers.
“We express our sincere appreciation to the local business community who have assisted with refreshments before.”
Mguni also implored residents and other stakeholders to help with funding and donations which include protective clothing for volunteers, their training, tools, among other things.
“Our plan is to do the recycling and create value chains for the waste.
“This will bring sustainability to the programme through income generation from waste by the volunteers,” she said.
