Bulawayo councillors have raised concern over the continuous dumping of refuse in sanitary lanes in the central business district with authorities blaming vendors for dumping litter in undesignated areas.
In the latest council minutes, Bulawayo Mayor Solomon Mguni complained that there was a lot of litter in sanitary lanes around the city centre.
Deputy Mayor Cllr Mlandu Ncube, whose jurisdiction includes the city centre, explained that efforts are being made to ensure that all the sanitary lanes are cleaned.
“Cllr Ncube explained that refuse in the sanitary lanes in the CBD was a cause of concern and efforts were being made to clean all sanitary lanes in the CBD. A contract had been advertised for more Community Truckers in the remaining wards,” the minutes read.
“Once the Community Truckers started work more refuse compactors would be assigned to the CBD. The refuse recycling contracts had been concluded. These companies would start the recycling process soon. Considerations were being made to give incentives to refuse recycling companies.”
City health services director Dr Edwin Sibanda highlighted that although street sweeping was being effectively conducted, there were some parts of the city that were perennially littered due to illegal vending.
He said domestic refuse was being successfully collected in accordance with the schedule but the main challenge was the city centre.
“Sweeping activities in the CBD were conducted satisfactorily during the month. Littering hotspots in the city were Fort Street/Leopold Takawira Avenue, Fort Street/10th Avenue, 5th Avenue and City Hall area. These areas were characterised by illegal vending activities,” read the minutes.
“Six clean up campaigns were conducted during the month and the department continued waste education efforts. All wards were encouraged to conduct Clean Up campaigns at least on every National Clean Up Day. The department was working on getting broken down vehicles back on the road.”
