Zimpapers Logo

Chronicle Reporters
BULAWAYO residents observed the national clean-up campaign day by tending to their homes due to restrictions imposed during the 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Normally there have been group clean-up campaigns led by schools, communities and corporates every first Friday of the month.

In Bulawayo, the early morning hours were characterised by dusty scenes in the streets of multiple suburbs including Tshabalala, Sizinda, Mpopoma Nkulumane and Nketa with people focusing on their own yards, keeping clean yet not flouting lockdown regulations.

The leafy suburbs of Kumalo, Montrose, Hillside, North End, Sauerstown, Burnside, Parklands and more were also characterised by many men and women who were tending their flowers, watering gardens and also cleaning driveways and patches of land in front of their homes.

The news crew observed that repeated calls on the clean-up campaigns by Government have helped in conscientising individuals and organisations on the importance of cleaning up in Zimbabwe.

As residents with dusty feet and dusty hands picked tools and retired from landscaping jobs for the day, many driveways were left inviting.

It was however disheartening to note that despite the splendid efforts by some residents some people are still throwing litter everywhere with impunity.

Some residents who spoke to the news crew said there was need for clean-up awareness campaigns in all areas because some people are still not ashamed to  dispose of litter in undesignated places.

Mrs Florence Sibanda of Bulawayo’s Sauerstown suburb said she was a staunch Christian and feels that cleanliness was next to Godliness hence the decision to keep her yard tidy all the time.

“It is good now that there is a lockdown as it is giving me enough time to focus on maintaining my yard. We are taught at church all the time that cleanliness is next Godliness, so I am making an effort do my part and maintain a clean space,” she said.

“We have seen our President in the news on TV and read about him in the papers cleaning together with other officials in Government. It is not easy this yard is very big as it sits on more than one-acre plot of land, but it’s mine so I must be able to maintain it.

“My children are helpful too, as they don’t like the mosquitoe bites when we allow the grass to grow too tall.”

Another Bulawayo resident, Mr Ian Nkala, said he loved to clean his yard as he was a pensioner and he had a lot of time on his hands.

“I love doing gardening. I grow a lot of vegetables but I also like cutting and shaping my flowers. I do it all the time and today it just coincided with the national clean-up day,” he said.

Some school-going children who spoke to Chronicle said they had been sent to yard- cleaning tasks by their parents as it was holiday time.

“My mother woke us up early today and she said we will eat porridge after sweeping the leaves and throwing them in the compost heap. We do it all the time,” said a boy from Pumula South suburb.

Chronicle observed a number of illegal dumpsites across the city, a sign that some residents continue to litter the environment.

According to a 2011 study by the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, the country generates 1,65 million tonnes of waste per  year.

Since the 2018 declaration, Zimbabweans, the majority of whom are drawn from corporate bodies, have been religiously tidying up the streets and the environs in which they will be operating from on this set day.

In the Midlands province, some residents said they cleaned their homes as part of the National Clean-up Day campaign while others said it was just an ordinary day.

The clean-up campaign was restricted to homes as residents were supposed to cleaning up their homes from 8AM to 10AM due to the lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19.

“We were told that this month’s clean-up campaign is kind of home-based, so my wife and kids assisted me to clear the yard. It wasn’t much since we are always cleaning the yard,” said Mr Napoleon Dube from Mkoba 7 suburb in Gweru.

However, some residents in Ascot and Mambo suburbs said they could not keep the day because they were busy looking for water from boreholes since they have been without water for the past week.

“It’s just an ordinary day. A day coming when we have a lockdown and when we are looking for water. So, we will just clean up later to keep our environment clean,” said Mrs Vennie Ncube from Ascot Infill.

In Gwanda, residents cleaned their homes to mark the national clean-up day as they could not venture into the streets because of the ongoing lockdown.

Gwanda Municipality officials yesterday moved around the town urging residents to clean their homes. A resident from Gwanda, Miss Sibusiso Moyo, said while she could not clean the streets, she realised the importance of the day hence she took it upon herself to clean her home to mark the day