Kubatana.net ~ an online community of Zimbabwean activists

Being a responsible citizen

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Despite giving themselves hefty salaries and most recently the big holiday cheque, our City Fathers did us good by placing orange bins on most of the major roads in the city center. What still surprises me though is that you will find someone throwing his or her empty ice cream paper on the street. If this is to continue the risk of getting cholera will be high considering it will be combined with blocked sewer pipes. Hopefully littering will be short lived as people are soon to be jailed for littering and spitting on the street.

For the city to deal with litter problems it has to change the mind-set of its citizens. Mr Mapako, an environmental officer with the Environmental Management Authority, said “The problem of litter is now quite rampant throughout the country and if we are to find a solution we have to deal with human attitude first. For instance when customers go into the shops they have a habit of collecting plastic bags and dumping them on the streets. They should learn to use one shopping bag several times”.

With most supermarkets now selling their plastic bags this will easily be achieved. It’s so boring having to pay for a taxi bag when you used to get it for free. At least most people will now move around with a plastic bag in their pockets or hand bags and hence there will be less litter in the streets.

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