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Leonard Ncube [email protected]
THE amount of roadside litter along the Mbalabala-Zvishavane Road is a cause for concern especially around Mberengwa turn-off.
It appears litter bugs comprise both travellers and locals considering the amount of plastic and fast foods packaging waste along the road and around the business centre at Mberengwa turn off.
The road is also a key tourism route especially for visitors connecting between Bulawayo and Masvingo and its state has a bearing on the country’s image in as much as it also shows disregard for the environment as the waste would be washed down into water bodies.
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority is taking journalists and buyers on a countrywide tour of tourism facilities and leisure areas as part of efforts to promote the Zimbabwe brand, with keeping the environment in its pristine state key to marketing the country.
A drive past Mberengwaturn off showed a sorry state of the environment with serious littering especially around the shopping centre by the road side.
It leaves one wondering if the local community embraced the National Clean-Up initiative introduced by President Mnangagwa in December 2018.
Littering along the highways has remained high as transporters and motorists continue to disregard regulations mandating them to provide litter bins inside vehicles.
Vandalism of rubbish bins at lay bys along the highways has also contributed to littering hence the need for behavior change among citizens.
In some communities , stakeholders have come up with localised initiatives such as the Pristine Victoria Falls whereby each organisation adopted a section of the city which they clean on a daily basis.