A programme of volunteer anti-litter monitors, being carried out in Mbare by the Harare City Council in conjunction with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Oxfam, has resulted in clean-up campaigns where women dominate the number of volunteers.
According to the women, sustainable environmental management is achievable if the society becomes the owner of its environment. Team leader Rosemary Musungwa, 48, said women were also taught hygiene issues at household level.
“We meet on Mondays and Wednesdays to conduct clean up campaigns and we have seen that Mbare is becoming a better place a result of the efforts by the community,” she said.
One of the volunteers, Sheila Musaruro, 43, urged other community members to get involved.
“As women, we have a lot of responsibility as far as maintaining the environment is concerned and we would like to urge everyone, including men, to get involved because what we need to see is society as a whole rallying towards a common purpose,” she said. Besides disposing of waste, they are looking at collecting recyclable material for sale as well
The Chairperson of the Mbare team, Nephital Mazarire, saluted women volunteers for taking the initiative.
“Our members have been trained in recycling by three local companies that have expressed a willingness to work with us. So we hope that besides cleaning the environment, our members will also find a business opportunity by trading in recyclable material,” said Mazarire.
According to the Harare City Council, there are over 500 trained anti-litter monitors in the capital with Mbare having 383 members while 56 are in Sunningdale. In Warren Park, 50 anti-litter monitors have been trained while 15 rank marshals have been trained to operate at various bus termini in the city centre.
The local authority’s spokesperson, Lesley Gwindi, expressed optimism that the anti-litter monitors would go a long way in helping efforts to restore the capital city’s sunshine status. He commended the role being played by women in sustainable environmental management.
He said the council would mobilise resources to assist the anti-litter monitors to carry out their duties effectively and make efforts to involve schools in anti-litter monitoring projects as well.
EMA Senior Environmental Education and Publicity Officer, Rambwayi Mapako, said litter monitoring at community level was essential as far as sustaining the environment is concerned.
“We have realised that community involvement is essential to maintaining a clean environment and that is why we have decided to embark on projects of this nature. There is need for greater community involvement to ensure a clean environment,” said Mapako.
Post published in: News