BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) says it is failing to keep the city clean due to financial constraints and shortage of resources.
Report by Blondie Ndebele
Speaking during a Makokoba multi-stakeholders clean-up campaign and commissioning of a public toilet yesterday, Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo encouraged people to clean up their environment and develop litter-free zones in order to avoid unnecessary expenses.
“The city of Bulawayo faces various challenges with regards the delivery of sanitation services,” he said. “The actual number of sweepers required in keeping and maintaining the city clean is 88.
“However, due to financial constraints faced by the council, there are only a few sweepers at the moment and it is not easy to replace them when vacancies occur.”
Moyo said the shortage of refuse trucks has affected the ability to collect domestic refuse on weekly basis. He said, however, they have tried to maintain the twice-a-month schedule for western suburbs and weekly scheduled for eastern areas for refuse collection and they collect rubbish on a daily basis at shopping centres and the central business district. The clean-up campaign was dubbed “Keeping Bulawayo Clean, Cleaning Makokoba is my priority”.
A public toilet was handed over to the council by Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
CRS joint initiative project manager Felicia Machingura said the toilet, which had been at an advanced stage of dilapidation and was no longer in use, was rehabilitated at a cost of about $2 300.
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They also handed over material such as wheelbarrows, brooms, rakes and shovels worth $1 000 to the local authority, while HM Essat Trust donated cleaning equipment worth $1 200.
Makokoba councillor James Sithole said the area had seven public toilets, which have been resuscitated by non-governmental organisations, after years of neglect, as the local authority did not have the funds to repair them.
