Zimbabwe is overwhelmed by serious waste management problems, something that has seen the country lose its aesthetic value.
This can be attributed to the alarming economic decline the country went through for over a decade until the unity government finally brought some semblance of stability and growth.
But because things are still far from getting back to normal in the country, service delivery is still largely incapacitated and as a result refuse collection is among the services that are still to be delivered by the responsible authorities.
Mounds of uncollected litter around cities have become a common sight.
The city councils themselves, including Harare City Council, have not attempted to conceal the fact that they are finding the waste management task rather overpowering.
Unfortunately, there are still many people in the country who carry around with them the mindset that the litter burden should singlehandedly be carried by the councils.
Such characters will go around throwing all kinds of litter anywhere and everywhere with the belief that it is the council workers’ job to clean after them.
Regrettably, more often than not, there will not be any council workers to come clean up the dirt.
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And even if there was, no sooner than the place would have been swept that it becomes infested with all sorts of litter again.
There is no doubt that Zimbabwe is full of litter bugs.
This is the reason why Miracle Missions, a local non-profit making organisation working closely with the Environment ministry, Harare City Council, EMA and other organisations with a heart for the environment, came up with the anti-littering and anti-dumping campaign that was launched in May.
The campaign is still confined to Harare for now.
Since most people tend to blame their littering on the lack of sufficient bins in the country, this campaign is incorporating companies that are providing bins with their company logos on them, that are to be placed around the city at an “affordable fee.”
The programme, while providing more bins and better convenience for the public, gives the companies involved the chance to market their brands, making people conscious of their presence and the fact that they support public initiatives, which most potential customers are bound to find appealing. The campaign, themed “Together making a difference,” is focusing at not only arranging clean-up programmes but also at changing people’s mindsets over littering.
By the time the campaign runs its course, it is hoped that people would have become conscientised on the negative effects of littering.
It is hoped people will begin to understand that littering reduces the quality of life, especially as far as our health is concerned.
What is worth noting is that the various cholera outbreaks that have plagued the country in the past are linked to littering.
Furthermore, the campaign is expected to make people realise that cleaning up the country is, especially at the moment, far too big a job for be left to councils alone.
