Suburban
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
CHISIPITE residents are disgusted by the growing litter thrown around at the roundabout along ED Mnangagwa Road (formerly Enterprise Road) by the shopping centre and have urged stakeholders to provide bins to different shops and vendors at the shops and surrounding areas.
In a discussion on service delivery in the suburb on their neighbourhood’s online group, the residents issued a statement expressing concern over the growing mound of plastic waste at the traffic circle.
“We are appalled by the amount of plastic waste which has accumulated on Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Road (formerly Enterprise Road) particularly before and after the Chisipite roundabout. It is not difficult to find the reasons for this recent upsurge in littering.
“There are at least 4/5 soft drinks carts on that stretch of the road. Most of the plastic waste is soft drink and water bottles brought from these same carts,” reads the residents’ statement.
The residents suggested that soft drink and bottled water producing companies could help by providing their vendors with plastic bins and make arrangements for the PET bottles to be collected for recycling.
“The drainage ditches on Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa Road at the corner with Harare Drive are packed with discarded bottles. Isn’t this a case where ‘extended producer responsibility’ should be encouraged/enforced? It is obvious that people are consuming their drinks next to the carts, so why can’t the companies supply the vendors with bin bags and set up a system to responsibly take the plastic to be recycled?” residents questioned in the statement.
Chisipite residents also encouraged the retail outlets around the area to put up bins where people can place litter instead of throwing it around.
“They are probably individual vendors with own carts who sell all different drinks from various suppliers. They should all have on-board bins and return them to the suppliers,” suggested a resident.
They expressed shock at the behaviour of some motorists who actually toss their litter out of their car windows while driving off.
“My horror was seeing a mother in her Merc (Mercedes Benz) buying ice creams for her Heritage (school) kids and as she drove away the ice cream papers were thrown out of the window,” said another resident.
In the past Chisipite residents have had to organise clean ups to clear the rubbish dumped on open spaces and near the shopping centre and the traffic circle on ED Mnangagwa Road.
