Suburban
Residents of Quinnington in Borrowdale have taken it upon themselves to repair City of Harare grader used and also intend to refurbish a broken down refuse compactor.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
The residents are carrying out the repairs under the Quinnington Residents Association.
Harare Acting Mayor Councillor Musarurwa Stewart Mutizwa this week commended the Quinnington Residents Association for the assistance it is rendering to the municipality.
“The residents of Quinnington have asked to repair a grader, which is almost 99 percent complete in terms of the repairs, which is a good and commendable thing that the residents are doing.
“They are also going to repair a compactor, which is going to work for the Quinnington and Glen Lorne area,” said Cllr Mutizwa while addressing journalists.
He appealed to corporates to assist in implementing programmes to recycle and reuse waste at source or community-based initiatives.
“This is not based on corporate goodwill but corporate social responsibility to ensure that they take their products from the cradle to the grave.
“In other words, it is their responsibility to minimise environmental impact caused by their products according to the above principles.
“Our appeal is premised on the understanding that companies and institutions derive their business from the community and we therefore cannot allow the city to degenerate into a diseases hotspot that will eventually affect companies and individuals when people fall sick,” said Cllr Mutizwa.
He said after clearing of the illegal dumps, the city will continue its the door-to-door refuse collections.
Cllr Mutizwa said punitive charges will be put in place by the Environmental Management Authority and council which already has existing by-laws to tackle the menace.
“So the stop the drop is coming after the clearing of the illegal dumps.
“There will be penalising of those found dumping rubbish and enforcement will be put in place,” he said.
Cllr Mutizwa said individuals and corporates have a huge role to play such as the frontage of properties or businesses.
“Our by-laws give authority to owners of buildings to maintain their frontage and also ensuring there are garbage receptacles, greening the frontage and installing adequate lighting.
“Companies and individuals are encouraged to adopt pieces of land in the city specifically for beautification purposes. Terms and conditions can be discussed with our parks and cemeteries division under the department of housing. In simple terms, the city is open to partnerships that benefit residents, council and the people rendering the assistance,” he said.
For grass cutting, Cllr Mutizwa said the city requires 15 tractors, one trailer and 80 brush cutters to operate effectively. Tall grass characterises many northern suburbs posing a danger to motorists and pedestrians who include school children who risk being mugged.
“It is our call to action to all the corporates and development partners to come on board and assist in the need to beautify our city and also remove garbage. People are not supposed to live with garbage; it is the cause of various diseases so we want to end that,” he said
