. Kalumba

By DAVID KANDUZA  and JAJAH COULIBALY  –
LUSAKA City Council (LCC) has announced plans that will compel every Lusaka resident to pay for garbage collection through airtime deductions of K2 a day.
Lusaka Mayor Wilson Kalumba said this would be done to finance the garbage collection project which would see street vendors relocated to designated trading areas.
The idea has been posted on the mayor’s Facebook page where it has ignited mixed reactions from the residents of a city chocking under the weight of uncollected garbage.
In a telephone interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Kalumba said once the proposal was implemented, anyone with a phone would have to pay a daily rate unlike the current system which required households to pay monthly.
“It is our plan to deduct garbage collection fee and we hope that it yields positive results once implemented,” he said.
The council is proposing a daily levy of K2 per household. If 1million homes sign up, the council would be collecting K2 million per day from the three mobile networks currently operating in Zambia.
Lusaka is a bustling city of more than two million people that has grown from a mere village of Chief Lusaaka, in 1935, to being one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with garbage collection and blocked drainage and sewer systems a perennial headache for the civic authorities.
Mr Kalumba said the e-garbage collection idea had proven to be effective in keeping cities clean in other countries.
Not surprisingly, residents have received the information with mixed feelings.
Beatrice Darko said she paid a private company to collect her garbage and that the LCC e-garbage idea would leave her paying double for the service. She might not mind so much if the idea translated into a cleaner city, though.
“But, honestly, I don’t mind paying double if only others can learn to keep the environment clean,” she said.
Andy Jas said the idea would put pressure on the council to deliver the expected standards of customer service by way of clean streets and better sanitary conditions at such public facilities as bus stations.
Luzarous Daka said he believed the proposed levy would affect poor households while Ciida Babeleka said she had liked the idea but it had come at a time when so many taxes had been introduced.
Zambia is trying to go digital with its waste management, with ZICTA and Zambia Environmental Management Agency having recently signed a MoU to manage electronic waste such as computers and phones as they can be toxic.