Mzuzu council holds residents responsible for city’s filthiness

Mzuzu City Council (MCC) has gone flat-out accusing residents of the city for playing a pivotal role in accelerating filthiness in the city, saying it is peddling the rise of a number of waterborne diseases including cholera.

MCC spokesperson, McDonald Gondwe, told Nyasa Times in an exclusive interview that despite the residents having designated places to litter their garbage, they choose otherwise.

“Actually, some residents carry garbage from their homes and litter it in the city, usually and mind-bogglingly, at restricted areas,” he said.

Nyasa Times noted, for instance, noted a private vehicle that was seen disposing waste at around Mzuzu Airport.

“So, the issue is that the Council sometimes fails to properly manage waste because of this tendency of some residents who deliberately choose not to support Council initiatives on refuse management. A case in question is those who litter anyhow despite having designated sites for littering like bins,” said Gondwe.

But he admitted that the Council did not have adequate resources to help facilitate the process, especially transportation of refuse to the dumping site.

“As a Council we cannot deal with this situation due to our meagre resources. We plea to all  stakeholders to join the Council’s efforts by, among others, managing household waste and industrial waste for companies,” he said.

The publicist also accused some shop owners and business persons for not abiding to the Council’s policy particularly that demands that they have rubbish bins at their premises.

He said they had put in place measures to make sure that those who were engaged in the in the misdemeanors were brought to book and punished.

“We have started tracking them down and soon those that are found responsible are going to be dealt with,” said Gondwe.

But some shop owners and vendors in random interviews with Nyasa Times downplayed the allegation that they were responsible for the city’s filthiness, and threatened to stop paying taxes should hygiene in the city not change for the better.