The Sunday Mail
Blessings Chidakwa
RECYCLING is key to sustaining a clean, safe and healthy environment, Environment patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa has said.
She made the remarks when she unveiled the first-of-their-kind underground colour-coded waste disposal facilities, which are ideal for waste separation, emit less odour, are less prone to vandalism and have high aesthetic appeal.
The pilot project was unveiled at Mavambo Shopping Centre in Ruwa, where Dr Mnangagwa also interacted with thousands of people on various issues affecting communities, including drug abuse and domestic violence.
She also had an open discussion with couples, who highlighted challenges being encountered in marriages, leading to a surge in divorce cases and domestic violence.
The underground colour-coded bins, which were unveiled by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa at Mavambo Shopping Centre in Ruwa yesterday
As Agric4she patron, Dr Mnangagwa forged ahead with her urban transformation programme aimed at improving livelihoods by handing over inputs for women to grow crops to enhance food security and nutrition.
Each woman received chemicals and seeds that included butternuts, carrots, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables for horticulture production.
Ahead of this year’s harmonised elections, the First Lady called for peaceful polls. She urged the people to vote for President Mnangagwa and the ruling party — ZANU PF.
A champion of waste management, Dr Mnangagwa said she was pleased to unveil the underground colour-coded bins, which promote waste separation.
Part of the crowd that attended the launch of colour-coded underground bins and interactive session with First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa in Ruwa. – Pictures: Innocent Makawa
“This underground bin system that has been unveiled here will be replicated in other residential areas of Ruwa before being rolled out across the country. The bins are labelled to enable waste segregation and appropriate material to be recovered. The colour-coded underground bin system comes with some advantages which include but not limited to a significantly higher collection point capacity due to reduction in residual waste,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa said other advantages were slow waste decomposition and odour reduction as all the waste material was stored below the ground with lower and more stable temperature, reduction in vandalism, improved aesthetic appearance and cleanliness at the collection point that does not overflow with garbage as is usually the case with the open binning system.
“The waste recycling process remains key in enabling growth of the recycling industry. Recycling is indeed emerging as a sector able to sustain the clean, safe and healthy environment which we so much envisage to propel our country into a middle-income economy by 2030.
“The introduction of the colour-coded underground bins has come at the appropriate time, when there is a clarion call for the separation of waste at source, including the household level,” she said.
A woman contributes her views during an interactive session with First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa in Ruwa
The First Lady said waste separation remains the key enabler for recovery of materials to sustain the recycling industry and, in the process, reduce residual waste in the environment.
“Waste management is a problem that most urban local authorities are battling with. There is a need to promote sustainable waste management practices, but first, we need to acknowledge that waste is a resource.
“I am thus urging communities to actively participate in waste separation and material recovery. The time is now for all of us to vigorously adopt this easy practice as we forge ahead towards creating a clean environment that is not harmful to the health of all citizens,” she said.
Amai Mnangagwa said she was pleased to note that it has become a fashionable trend for companies to venture into the recycling business as a viable investment.
“In line with the 2030 national vision of a middle-class economy, recycling has the potential to create thousands of green jobs and generate income through local distribution and exporting quality recycled products to other countries.
“The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry — through the Environmental Management Agency — is working with over 400 community-based organisations that are into material recovery, and recycling initiatives,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa was also delighted that in Ruwa, a local community-based organisation wholly constituted by women has been managing the Mavambo recyclable waste drop-off centre serving more than 200 households and retail shops.
“This is a clear sign that our challenges on waste can be dealt with starting at the grassroots level. Well done Mavambo and to all other communities and entities doing the same. It definitely does not take much to make this necessary difference in waste management.
“Moving forward, let us align ourselves to the global wave of recycling and I am glad the nation is in the process of developing a recycling policy to guide the growth of the sector in tandem with the scale of generation of recyclables in the country,” she said.
She said what impresses her the most is that efforts are also being put in place to make separation of waste at source mandatory through a legally binding instrument.
“This, on its own, is a step in the right direction as we upscale material recovery for recycling.
“In response to this development, I encourage local authorities to set the right tone aimed at entrenching resource efficiency in waste management by introducing at least a two-bin system at household level and a three-bin system in public and private institutions and complexes; as well as public places, including along streets and roads,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa said, as the patron of the environment, she was calling on everyone to be vigilant and manage waste properly following a cholera outbreak in Harare and other parts of the country.
“Vendors and shop owners must ensure that they dispose of their waste properly and provide waste receptacles for their customers. I call upon everyone to live responsibly and follow best hygienic practices.
“Remember, we remain the sole authors of our own destiny; no one else can do that except us, hence we say, nyika inovakwa nevene vayo,” she said.
“Standing here as a mother, I implore you to vote for President ED Mnangagwa and ZANU PF. I urge you all to vote resoundingly and in peace. I want peace as a mother; we all want peace. Through my Angel of Hope Foundation, I am helping people and I am not looking back until every person has been empowered. Therefore, if you vote for President Mnangagwa, this will give me an opportunity to continue with the projects. My vision is to see everyone economically empowered,” she said to applause as the gathering whistled and ululated in agreement.
During an interactive session with the community, Dr Mnangagwa asked for the reasons fuelling domestic violence.
One woman said her husband was not looking after her and the children while he spends money on girlfriends.
“Amai, our husbands are cheating on us and neglecting the family. They also expect us to be smart always yet they cannot even provide for us with small things like bathing soap,” she said.
The First Lady weighed in, encouraging women to participate in income-generating projects that she was initiating through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
She said it was the responsibility of both parents to cater for the family.
Men, she said, should love their wives the same way they did when they first met.
“There are various empowerment projects being undertaken by women, including farming. That is why I gave you seeds. Support your husbands through these projects so that you remove the dependency syndrome,” she said.
Mr Owen Chamukuza underscored the need for men to abstain from drugs as they end up engaging in domestic violence.
“Avoid taking illicit substances, drugs and tumbwa. We will all enjoy our marriages,” he said.
Amai Mnangagwa took the opportunity to educate communities on the dangers of drug and substance abuse.
She urged women to involve their children in their projects so that they do not have time to go astray. Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Deputy Minister Barbara Rwodzi said they chose to unveil the colour-coded bins in Mashonaland East since this was where the First Lady also first initiated the programme on waste management.
“This initiative will improve the livelihoods of people of Ruwa as they will now make money through recycling their waste,” she said.
Mashonaland East Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Aplonia Munzverengwi thanked Dr Mnangagwa for taking her precious time to interact with the people and spearheading empowerment projects such as farming.
She said, as a province, they embraced Amai Mnangagwa’s philanthropic works wholly, which has seen even the international community recognising her great works.
Harare Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Mr Tafadzwa Muguti — represented by the deputy director in his office, Mr Ignatius Mungure, applauded the mother of the nation for economically empowering people through recycling.
He said the programme seeks to onboard livelihood-centred interventions to the waste management scourge through community- based organisations as frontiers in recovery and recycling activities.
“The colour-coded underground bins you commissioned today are unique, Amai, and we wish to adopt them in all the residential areas of the province.
“I passionately appeal to all stakeholders across the social divide to adopt effective waste management practices that include waste reduction, recovery and promotion of recycling initiatives,” he said.
He also challenged corporates and local authorities to forge strategic partnerships that will see massive investments in waste recovery and recycling.
Probin Waste Management, which was involved in the colour-coded underground bins initiative and was represented by Ms Chidochemoyo Nemhara, said the bins have four critical pillars.
Engineer Farai Mudimu weighed in, saying: “The underground bins are used for separation of waste, diapers, plastics, metal so that our waste won’t remain exposed to the environment, which increases high chances of contamination.
“We hope and believe that the underground bins can achieve a clean environment. The project is the first in Zimbabwe if not all of Africa, and we will cascade it down to other local authorities.”
Ruwa residents were on cloud nine, applauding the First Lady, for unveiling the colour-coded bins, with Ms Resistance Chimutombo being one of them.
“I want to thank Amai for this initiative, which will make us stay in a clean environment, leading to healthy living.
“Some of us are also being empowered through working at the source of separation. This is a noble idea,” she said.
Mr Isaac Mudiwa also hailed Dr Mnangagwa for being a true champion of waste management.
“I am glad as this will go a long way in addressing issues of waste, which has been piling up all over. If waste is recycled, we are guaranteed of a clean town,” he said.
Ms Rumbidzai Sazuri said: “It is now easier to manage waste, especially diapers, which gave us headaches as some people threw them all over, polluting the environment, hence creating a health disaster.”
Gogo Eunice Frank said the initiative should be applauded by all.
“I stay close to the railway line area. Litter was all over and navigating the area was a nightmare. Some kids were now even picking up used condoms and using them as balloons,” she said.
