. Wina

By STEVEN ZANDE –
VICE-PRESIDENT Inonge Wina has called for an end to a culture of indiscriminate waste disposal to help combat the negative effects of garbage on the environment.
Ms Wina said the problem of litter called for proactive measures such garbage recycling plants which could result in a clean environment while creating jobs for the people involved.
“Government has long realised the need for innovative solutions to challenges of indiscriminate disposal of litter, including the health and environmental threats that it poses,” the Vice-president said.
She said this in Lusaka yesterday in a speech which was read on her behalf by Minister in her office Sylvia Chalikosa at the second anniversary of Manja Pamodzi.
Ms Wina said hailed the Manja Pamodzi project which had brought together communities and various stakeholders to create enterprises which had improved people’s livelihoods in areas where it operated.
The Manja Pamodzi project had almost 400 collectors and eight aggregators in seven areas of Lusaka including George, Matero, Mtendere, Ng’ombe and Kalikiliki areas.
She praised Zambian Breweries (ZB) for initiating the project, stating that this was commendable, especially that 80 per cent of the collectors and aggregators were women who had benefited from the project and had thriving small businesses.
This supported Government’s desire to keep Zambia clean and promote women economic empowerment as stipulated in the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) which also aimed at reducing poverty and vulnerability among Zambians.
Ms Wina implored collectors and aggregators associated with the project to embark on saving schemes from their earning because this shielded them in times of financial difficulty.
The Vice-president said a strong savings base would also provide the country with domestic resources which could be used to support national development.
Ms Wina urged promoters of the Manja Pamodzi iniative to consider expanding the project to other parts of the country so that more communities could benefit from the venture and called for more private sector partnership to boost activities of the project.
Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection Minister Lloyd Kaziya praised ZB for the project which brought positive change to targeted communities, turning them into better places.
Mr Kaziya said there was need to conduct more sensitisation in communities to ensure that waste disposal was controlled because this was crucial to achieving a disease-free society.
Outgoing ZB country director Annabele Degroot said the project had recorded considerable success and had so far collected over 2, 500 tonnes of recyclable waste and called for more private partnership in the processing industry.
Ms Degroot said companies should be responsible for the waste they generated and appealed to the Government to consider banning the use of plastic bags which among other ills contributed to blocked drainage systems.
Millenium Challenge Account (MCA) acting deputy chief executive officer Pelekelo Chipango said the account had contributed USD$840 an equal amount similar to ZB adding that his organisation would pour in more resources to ensure the venture succeeded.
Violet Makina a Ng’ombe resident collector said through hard work, the project helped her earn regular income, thereby contributing to her financial stability