A visibly concerned Maiketso, who is in his third month at the helm, told Mmegi recently that "this muddle, clutter, foul smell and chaotic situation in the city centre will soon be a thing of the past."The Francistown City Council (FCC) has on several occasions been blamed for not effectively dealing with heaps of waste in the CBD.Residents not only feel let down by the council for not collecting waste, they have also in the past faulted the municipality for not cleaning the city.
The unsightliest of spots in the city is the bus rank and Haskins Street, which teams with Zimbabwean shoppers on a daily basis, earning it the moniker 'Bulawayo Street'.Here, a handful of shop-owners, mostly Chinese, have leased premises. Behind and in front of the shops, scattered litter and uncollected waste is a daily sight.The city council has in the past indicated that it cannot collect waste as a result of shortage of vehicles. However, Maiketso said the city council is already working on some measures aimed at improving the city's cleanliness."Along with some of the city council's environmental management team, we have been going around the city to identify areas that need to be urgently cleaned since last week. Most individuals who buy from Chinese shops dispose of the packaging materials everywhere in the city. For this reason, during our trips we met some of the Chinese shop owners and informed them that they should make sure materials that package products purchased from their shops are properly disposed of," he said.
