Bulawayo residents have called on the city council to frequently collect heaps of garbage which has turned the central business district into an eyesore.
The country’s second-largest city, once widely considered by many as the cleanest town in the country has lost its shine as the local authority is struggling to provide quality services.
In an interview with CITE, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary, Thembelani Dube said it is evident enough that Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is overwhelmed with their services.
“The piling of garbage in the CBD and the sanitary lanes is a clear indication that Bulawayo City Council priorities are misplaced considering the intermittent supply of piped water to households in the different suburbs,” Dube said.
He added that the local authority must provide refuse trucks that are permanently assigned to the collection of refuse daily in the city centre.
Refuse trucks are usually deployed to remove garbage once a week between Monday and Friday.
Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA) chairperson, Winos Dube lashed out at the city fathers saying they don’t have to be reminded of duties they are very much aware of.
“All these are services that we as residents expect the council to work on because wherever there is garbage it is the responsibility of the city council to make sure it collects and dumps it in the rightful places,” he said.
He also urged residents to avoid littering everywhere as this will cause deadly outbreaks.
“As BURA, we call upon all residents to be very responsible, we shouldn’t even go around littering because, at the end of the day when there’s an outbreak of a disease, we are the people that get affected so we really need to exercise extra cleanliness,” he said.
When you hire a helper at home, you don’t fold hands and let them do everything because they are paid. You should also assist. As citizens and residents, we can also assist BCC. Once a month, some can donate trucks, others fuel, yet others labour. These three categories of people can get rubbish out of our environs. I have already donated an idea