The business of refuse disposal

News
THE saying goes that cleanliness is next to godliness. Cleanliness is the buzzword of many local authorities countrywide and all over the world.

THE saying goes that cleanliness is next to godliness. Cleanliness is the buzzword of many local authorities countrywide and all over the world.

Judging by the slogans that adorn the public halls and buildings of cities such as Bulawayo and Harare, one would think that the spirit of cleaning follows the letter (or by-laws) of maintaining cleanliness in the country’s major urban centres. The reality is that in cities like Bulawayo, Harare and Gweru there are neglected places that labour interminably under seemingly insurmountable mountains of trash.

In all urban centres it is a serious offence and a grievous infringement on council by-laws to throw away refuse in undesignated areas. For many years Bulawayo has fared well on the scorecard of cleanliness and efficient environmental management.

Nevertheless, in the past three years the environmental situation in Bulawayo has been deteriorating disturbed by one or two lone voices that seek to keep the rot in check. The present reality is that there are piles of rubbish in many parts of Bulawayo.

Over the years the problem has become endemic especially in high density suburbs. What is the cause of rubbish being dumped in undesignated areas in Bulawayo?

What causes residents to dump trash willy-nilly at a time when the local authority has acquired new refuse collection trucks? Unpacking these two questions requires an investigation of many factors that impinge on environmental management.

One of the major factors that compel residents to break the law in Bulawayo when it comes to refuse disposal is the haphazard manner in which refuse is collected. Over the past four to five years, it is the observation of the present writer that refuse trucks usually collect trash once in two weeks (that is, if ever they follow that timetable).

The major problem with collecting litter once in two weeks is that many households would have generated so much litter and waste to such an extent that keeping it in the yard ends up posing health risks. From the look of things different suburbs have different days allotted for waste removal and disposal.

In parts of Nkulumane and Nketa suburbs it is usually once in two weeks on Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays depending on the locality.

Sometimes waste is collected on Saturdays in places where it is usually collected on Fridays. The simple question is – how do people plan their refuse disposal in an unpredictable situation like that? Is it morally upright to blame the city dwellers for a problem whose major share actually lies in the province of city council administration?

It must be clearly spelt out that this article does not condone the disposal of waste or refuse everywhere because it destroys the environment and imposes foolish and unnecessary intergenerational costs on future generations in terms of environment rehabilitation and management.

It is the contention of this article that the seeming neglect or destruction of the environment through rampant littering and unlawful waste disposal by residents can be rectified if Bulawayo City Council adopts a holistic approach to environmental management.

The top-down approach (or squeeze/squash methods) of imposing laws which the council itself does not believe in or take seriously is a cause for concern and will not help matters when it comes to management of our God-given resources as trustees for future generations. The city council needs to consider private sector — local authority partnerships in waste disposal and management.

Such arrangements have worked in many developed and developing country cities. The school of thought that believes we have always done it this way, therefore we will always do it our way has no place in the modern world which is characterised by the blurring of demarcation lines between the public and private sectors of the economy.

It is the suggestion of this article that council needs to organise workshops in all the city’s suburbs and precincts to discover the concerns of the people on this important topic. Information generated and gathered from such workshops must be disseminated freely and openly to stimulate dialogue which can help move Bulawayo as an urban centre forward.

No one knows everything, even those who apparently do not know anything, actually know quite a lot. Engagement and a continuing dialogue are the hallmarks of cities which have succeeded in the business of waste disposal, refuse management and environmental management.

Anything less than dialogue is monologue and monologue as speech to self is not particularly uplifting in a complex geo-social construct such as a modern city.

Environmental activism and environmental education ought to be tools that are used by all and sundry to contain the epidemic of environmental destruction which may culminate in the destruction of the human race itself.

It is high time greediness in high places of many local authorities characterised by obscene salaries and out of the third world remuneration perquisites give way to a spirit of social servanthood which genuinely acknowledges that whatever we gather by nook and crook from our fellow countryman in this life, we shall one day leave or bequeath to successor generations.

The fact that all human beings are mortal and life is so temporal on earth makes it difficult to understand why some people would demand sky-high remuneration and allowances in many urban centres at a time when cities like Bulawayo and Harare are reeling under an ever burgeoning mountain of rubbish. Need we say more? Mahatma Ghandi once said “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”  Ian Ndlovu is an economist based at the National University of Science and Technology skilled in data analysis using SPSS, Gretl, Stata, Eviews and Microsoft Excel software packages. His research interests cover business, development, economic and e-commerce issues. He writes in his personal capacity.