Madzibalori Residents Say Rubbish Poses Health Threat

PINI BOTLHOKO
Correspondent | Monday March 22, 2010 00:00

In an interview with The Monitor, residents said the medium size dustbins usually called 'skips' have rubbish that is left to putrefy for a long period of time before being collected.

Japhet Majahi (38), a resident said,  ' It's true we have got a problem around here. As you can see, this dustbin is full of litter such that some of it is overflowing and scattered all over. The painful thing is that the rubbish can be here for months without being collected. It will then start smelling so badly that it affects those of us that stay next to it. I really don't know how long it is going to take for them to collect it. '

Another resident Faith Thabo Makwala (27) said since he moved to the area two years ago he has been experiencing the problem of bins that remain uncollected for long periods of time.

'At first we had a problem of lack of dustbins along the street. Now dustbins are there but the Council is not collecting them on time. The result is that the litter gets strewn around and animals feed on it,' Makwala said.

He suggested that council empty the bins at least twice a week, and said they cannot afford to delay collection since the bins are only two for the whole area of Blue Town and medium sized, which means that they fill-up quickly.

Village Development Committee (VDC) chairman, Lesego Mbayang, concurred with residents about the bin problems in the area and said the problem is especially exacerbated by the fact that there are only two tractors that collect rubbish in Francistown.

Mbayang however blamed residents of Madzibalori for dumping grass and even smouldering tree branches into the skips.  He said there was a need to educate them about waste management.

Meanwhile, Council Public Relations Officer, Priscilla Gulubane said she would find out from the relevant department if there was a problem with the collection of the bins.