Dear Editor,
LUSAKA as the capital city of Zambia is dirty. The town does not deserve to be the capital city under normal circumstances.
There are uncollected heaps of garbage in the Central Business District (CBD) which pose great danger to the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery, among others. This is very unacceptable.
If you take a walk on any street within town, you will see uncollected heaps of garbage. Truth be told; there are uncollected heaps of gar-bage on the major roads within town. We are in the rainy season and the chances of the waterborne diseases breaking out are very high. Hence, the need to take precautionary measures to avert the problem which seems to be getting out of hands.
The uncollected heaps of garbage make our environment dirty thereby killing the purpose of keeping Lusaka clean, green and healthy. However, the accumulation of garbage in the capital city cab be attributed to two factors; the indiscriminate disposal of garbage by the street vendors and lack of routine collection of garbage by those tasked to collect garbage. Think of the scenario where garbage remains uncollected for a long period of time. The dire consequence is that there will be so much garbage accumulating.
Moving forward; I am of the view that some garbage bins must be placed at the strategic points of the roads within town where people can discard them.
In another vein, I earnestly appeal to the local authority, to up their game in the collection of garbage. Not only collecting garbage but col-lecting it on a routine basis.
Barely a few years ago, cholera broke out in Lusaka and many lives were lost as a consequence. If this is not bad enough, the Government through the Ministry of Health spent colossal sums of money to the tune of K162 million to bring cholera under control. This money could have been channeled to other sectors of the economy.
All said and done, the uncollected heaps of garbage in Lusaka’s CBD is a recipe for outbreak of diseases such as cholera and the lasting solution must be found.
ELEMIYA PHIRI, Lusaka.
Uncollected heaps of garbage in Lusaka’s CBD a recipe of cholera outbreak
