By Nevson Mpofu Munhumutapa
The national cleanup campaign scheduled for the first Friday of every month has been put on hold since the announcement of the national lockdown to curb the scourge of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic however, the Young People Program Zimbabwe (YPPZ) has taken it unto themselves to make sure the city remains clean during the lockdown period.
The organization led by Tinashe Nyanguzu says its ready to take off with its National Clean up Open Microphone Championship using music, roadshows and other activities as a way of congregating young people so that they create a platform for discussions on how they can keep the cities clean.
Taking a pitched voice up for this recording to reach the nation, Nyanguzu said the clean-up campaign is an exercise meant for all young people to take a step towards being responsible for the cleaning of their cities, be it other residential areas in urban, rural communities.
“It is our responsibility as young people to make our cities clean. We are moving out of city boundaries going into all the provinces of the country. The clean-up idea makes cities, the country clean, happy nation, health people, especially for us it sounds well. We are the young people. We are the leaders of tomorrow. The onus is ours to see that cities are clean for all to stay health” he said
“Let us catch them young. As they grow, they must know it’s the responsibility of the young people to have better, cleaner-cities, let us be responsible as young people to make this World look better than ever before. Our goal is responsibility. It is therefore important to empower youth participation in clean-up campaign meant to build better, livable communities” he added
So far the YPPZ has cleaned some areas in Harare Central Business District and other high density suburbs that include Mbare , Epworth , Chitungwiza and Glenview.
In 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the National Environment Cleaning Day, declaring his Government’s commitment and desire to provide a clean environment through a sustainable waste disposal programme.
The President stressed the importance of a clean environment.
“The world we live in is deteriorating rapidly due to the dire consequences of climate change which manifests as floods, heat waves, diseases, water and air pollution, land degradation and desertification among other challenges,” he declared.
According to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Zimbabweans, particularly corporates, have been at the forefront of driving the initiative.
EMA environmental educational and publicity manager Ms Amkela Sidange says there was a surge in the adoption of certain sections of road islands by corporates, a move stemming from the National Environment Cleaning Day.
“We have observed that there is a behavioural change in communities and the corporate world since the introduction of the National Clean-up Day,” she explained.
“We have more corporates coming to support the initiative, they have formed structures and most of them no longer wait for the first Friday of the month.
“There has also been an increase of corporates adopting road islands. For example, if you look at road islands in Samora Machel Avenue; this has been done to complement the clean-up campaigns.”
Ms Sidange also said residential areas were slowly taking up the initiative.
“We are also witnessing communities in the residential suburbs who are complementing the initiative of these clean-up campaigns.
“In areas such as Sunningdale high- density suburb in Harare, there are communities that observe the first Friday of every month and hold clean-up campaigns voluntarily.
“We are hoping such initiatives cascades to other residential areas across the country.”
