BY SILISIWE MABALEKA GOVERNMENT yesterday announced that this year’s independence celebrations will be held in Bulawayo for the first time in the country’s 42 years under a black government.
Independence celebrations have been traditionally held in Harare.
The announcement was made by Defence and War Veterans minister Opah Muchinguri in a speech read on her behalf by Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs minister Judith Moyo during a clean-up campaign held at southworld Shopping centre.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the national clean-up campaign in 2018.
“This national clean-up day is exceptional in that it falls within our independence month whose main celebrations will be for the first time since independence in 1980 be held in the City of Kings and Queens,” Muchinguri said.
“This is the time for the nation to reflect on the benefits of our hard-earned independence and agree that the sacrifices cannot be in vain, hence the need to judiciously guard our natural capital and heritage.”
The Independence Day celebrations will be held at Barbourfields Stadium.
Muchinguri urged local authorities to adopt deliberate waste management policies to ensure a clean and safe environment.
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“Local authorities should set policy direction aiming at resource-use efficiency and to grow a recycling-based society which is able to provide for its residents, both current and future generations,” she said.
“In conforming to the devolution thrust, waste management and infrastructure such as waste transfer stations, adequate bins and refuse collection vehicles should be made available in all the rural service centres and towns.
“As communities, we can do our bit towards reducing plastics by rejecting and avoiding the use of plastic bags and paper as much as possible as they not only pollute the environment, but also fill up landfills faster than expected.”
Government last year hinted at banning use of plastic carrier bags as they are not recyclable. A number of countries have banned plastic bags for the safety of the environment.
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