A major clean-up campaign, Operation Chenesa Harare, being rolled out by the Government to restore cleanliness in the once "sunshine" city is now in full swing with more than 200 tonnes of accumulated garbage cleared by yesterday midday.
The ineptitude of the local authority in refuse collection has forced Government to step in to save the residents who have fallen victim to disease outbreaks, including cholera.
Local Government and Public Works Minister Winston Chitando and Permanent Secretary John Bhasera led from the front yesterday as they tracked significant progress made so far in clearing the southern suburbs of Harare.
Speaking in Western Triangle in Highfield, Minister Chitando said a few days ago the Government announced the operation so he was tracking progress on the ground and to assess what other interventions were required to make it a success.
"We are here to assess the progress of Operation Chenesa Harare. Every resident of Harare is happy with this operation because it is there to make sure that the city moves towards Vision 2030 to become an upper middle income economy.
"So we are assessing the effectiveness of the blueprint. As of midday today over 200 tonnes of waste have been removed. Government will continue to work very closely with all the authorities and stakeholders," he said.
Minister Chitando said Government had mobilised 34 trucks for the exercise and these had been deployed to five zones across the city.
He thanked all the stakeholders who assisted by donating equipment to make sure the exercise is a success.
Department of Civil Protection director Mr Nathan Nkomo said they were moving around the city collecting refuse in line with the noble idea by the Government after realising that the sunshine city status had been lost due to accumulated garbage.
"The Civil Protection Act mandates us to carry out such operations focusing on the environment, especially on Section 2 on the environmental pollution and disruption of essential services.
"Uncollected waste is a serious disruption of essential services. That is why the Government has stepped in," he said.
Mr Nkomo said what has pushed Government to swiftly step in is the cholera outbreak and after the exercise they will let Harare City Council carry on with its duties of refuse collection.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume thanked the Government for bailing them out.
"As City of Harare we are very happy with the complementary and cooperation we are receiving from the central Government and the thrust by the minister to assist us."
A Highfield resident Mrs Muza whose house was next to one of the cleared dumpsites applauded the Government for bailing out the inept local authority.
"It was a thorn in the flesh for us. I want to applaud the Government for removing the waste here. We were having a hard time living side by side with flies, maggots and the stench.
"Some were even dumping their dead pets. It was actually hard for us. Our plea is for the council to send refuse trucks regularly to collect waste at least once a week so as to avoid a repeat of the same scenario," she said.
Mr Trynos Kamba, a barber who operates in Western Triangle near one the cleared dumpsites said it was a relief even for his business.
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"I am glad with the operation as my working space was now a nightmare. I was even losing clients as people could not stomach the stench that was coming from the dumpsite," he said.
Mr Kelvin Tembo sighed with relief following the clearance of the dumpsite. "We are grateful to our Government for the removal of illegal dumpsites. We are at a loss of words for this kind gesture."
Another resident Susan Nkani said residents should also play their part in cleaning up their communities as they are the ones who fall victim to diseases when outbreaks occur.
"It's us who get affected if we do not clean our areas. So let us have that culture of cleaning our places on our own while we call for trucks to come and remove the garbage. Let us also be responsible. The President is always telling us that cleanliness is next to godliness," she said.
