Sat, 14 Jan 2017 09:50:17 +0000
By RODGERS KALERO
KITWE Mayor Christopher Kang’ombe yesterday led councilors in sweeping the city centre on Matuka Avenue where heaps of garbage and the blocked sewer system has been a source of concern for the vendors.
Mr Kang’ombe said, as civic leaders, they thought it was important that they led by example through cleaning the city centre which was slowly becoming a garbage dumping site because of the inconsistence of the local authority when it comes to garbage collection.
The Kitwe Mayor and Patriotic Front (PF) Kitwe District Chairman advised the vendors to dispose of garbage in the bins which the council had put on Matuka Avenue, instead of throwing litter everywhere.
“The issue of garbage collection is not entirely the issue of the local authority, it involves every patriotic, responsible and right thinking Zambian. This is why, as civic leaders, we decided to come and sweep Matuka Avenue as a way of showing good leadership.
“Now, my appeal to vendors is to throw litter at those two bins which the council has put here on Matuka Avenue so that it is much easier for the council to collect garbage,” Mr Kang’ombe said.
But, some vendors said, while they appreciated the good gesture of the Mayor and his councilors, it was important that the council improved garbage collection in the city.
A tomato vendor identified as Alice Mumba said the council had lamentably failed to improve garbage collection in the city centre and that was why councilors were going out of their way to come and sweep the city centre.
“If the council was doing its work properly, especially garbage collection, the Mayor and his councilors would not have been coming to sweep here, but because this good for nothing, hopeless Kitwe City Council has lamentably failed to improve garbage collection. It has forced the Mayor to clean up this rubbish,” Ms Mumba said.
Apart from the heaps of garbage in town which the council has failed to clean up, Matuka Avenue has also a blocked sewer line which produces a very unpleasant smell.
