Bulawayo is bearing the costs of rampant littering, with blocked waterways causing flooding in major streets of the central business district during heavy rains.
According to city officials, littering has not only resulted in blocked drainage systems and subsequent flooding but has also made it difficult to market the city as an attractive investment destination.
The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has repeatedly appealed to residents and businesses to stop the indiscriminate dumping of waste, warning that it overwhelms the city’s storm water drainage system.
Environmentalists say the flooding points to a deeper problem of poor waste management and neglected infrastructure.
They have called for stiffer penalties for littering and regular desilting of drains before the rainy season.
The rains have also damaged road surfaces, creating potholes that pose a danger to motorists.
Drivers struggled to navigate waterlogged roads as burst drain covers spewed water onto pavements and parking bays.
Residents blame the crisis on rampant littering, with plastic bottles, polystyrene containers, and other waste blocking drainage inlets.
Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart described the cost of littering as massive.
“I don’t think it’s fully quantified. The potential health cost, if cholera breaks out, will run into millions of dollars. But even if we don’t have an outbreak of disease, the damage to roads caused by blocked drains and the strain on our sewerage systems is enormous,” Coltart said in an interview.
“Then there’s the unquantified cost of the damage to the city’s potential to attract investment.
“What is happening on Fifth Avenue is very damaging, not just to the physical environment, but to efforts to project this city as a functioning place where the rule of law is respected.
“That deters investors, which means we do not get foreign or even domestic investment, and that in turn means jobs are not created.”
Coltart said municipal police lack the power to arrest litterbugs, which has effectively derailed the city’s anti-littering campaign.
“As you know, starting with me as mayor, I continually speak out against littering. Councillors conduct anti-litter campaigns, and our municipal police are valiantly trying to prevent littering,” he said.
“The problem they face is that they do not have the power of arrest… and without the ability to enforce anti-litter regulations, we are powerless to act. So, aside from publicity campaigns, we have no effective means of enforcing cleanliness.”
Coltart, however, said the municipality would continue its anti-litter campaigns in the city.
Winos Dube, chairperson of the Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA), said action must be taken against litterbugs.
“If we see no littering, then we will know that action has been taken,” he said.
“We are still waiting to see what actions the relevant authorities will take to address the littering challenge.”
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