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Gwanda Correspondent
THE Gwanda Town Council is facing a serious shortage of refuse trucks,  a move that has seen the town being overwhelmed by litter generated by residents. The problem was revealed by council officials on Tuesday at an anti-littering meeting in Gwanda Town. The meeting heard that the council operations have been negatively affected as refuse collection in the town has been constrained by a shortage of vehicles.

“The population here in Gwanda is now too high and there is an increase in waste generation. We are now overwhelmed as the council,” said an official from the municipality of Gwanda.

The municipality only has a single refuse collection truck to service the whole town.

The truck also has low capacity to handle the massive litter generated by residents.

As a result, of late, the municipality has been failing to collect litter on a regular basis as expected, a move that has seen litter scattered all over the town.

The problem has been worsened by  lack of refuse bins in the town.

“Njenge council silodubo lwethu (as a council we have our problems),” said Ward Nine councillor Thulani Moyo.

The Gwanda Town Council is also facing financial challenges and refuse collection has become costly for the council.

Participants at the meeting expressed concern over the litter thrown all over the town, saying that some people now referred to Gwanda as a dirty city.

It was then agreed that the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the police with other stakeholders would join hands to sensitise the Matabeleland South communities on the need to keep their environment clean.

The Matabeleland South Provincial officer responsible for Crime and Operations, Assistant Commissioner Happymore Sigauke said after the awareness campaigns, those found littering the environment would be prosecuted as it was everyone’s responsibility to keep the environment clean.