Zimbabwe is sitting onan environmental health time bomb as far as littering is concerned.
it is a habit that has become largely acceptable in virtually every city of the country.
Sadly, the country, which used to be the ‘‘Jewel of Africa’’ because of its cleanliness, has become one of the dirtiest on the continent.
Realising the waste management challenges bedevilling the country, various public, private and community groups have devoted much of their time in attempting to address the challenges.
For example, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management, supported by other stakeholders such as the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Environment Africa, have in the past carried out a number of clean-ups, so as to set precedence on keeping our environment litter-free.
However, with most of the cleaned-up areas always returning to their original dirty state, people have been left with a question of whether clean-ups are the answer to the litter challenges faced in Zimbabwe, particularly in the urban areas.
The Environment ministry has also been pushing for the enforcement of the environmental legislation that obliges every passenger vehicle to encourage passengers to place their litter in a bin instead of tossing it out of moving vehicles.
Environmental minister, Francis Nhema, is on record saying that all passenger vehicles with inscriptions inside written “Marara panze” (throw litter outside), encouraging passengers to throw their litter outside the vehicles will be fined for breaking the law.
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“It is a violation of the law [to have stickers saying marara panze],” Nhema was quoted by a local daily newspaper as saying.
He added that his ministry, through EMA, “will go to buses and if your bus does not have a bin inside, it’s an offence and you will be fined”. The minimum fine applicable for such offences is US$20.
The same bus however, can be slapped with several fines in a single day depending on the number of times that EMA officials inspect it.
In light of this, action should be taken now to abate this problem and the remedy to littering rests with all Zimbabweans.
It is imperative that a three-pronged approach to littering be adopted.
This approach should start at home at an individual level, industrial or company level and reach its highest approach at the national level.
The litter problem is believed to be one of the main causes of several vector-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid and therefore needs concerted efforts to solve it.
At the individual level, it is crucial that one carries a litter bag in the vehicle they are travelling in and avoid throwing litter out through the window. If one doesn’t have a litter bag, it’s better to keep it and later dispose of it properly — in a bin.
Residents are encouraged to practise waste separation at source where the different types of waste recyclables such as paper, plastic and glass are put in separate bins at home. It is crucial that the three ‘R’s of waste management — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle — are adhered to.
