Rundu filth back in spotlight
The clean-up campaign has made not a dot of difference to the Rundu residents who continue to dump.
The Rundu town council is unable to collect household waste because its collection truck is out of service, which has resulted in road reserves yet again being turned into dumping sites.
This is according to acting Rundu CEO Sikongo Haihambo who was responding to why the Maria Mwengere road reserve, which was cleaned up by various stakeholders earlier this year, has once again turned into a filthy eyesore.
“This week and last week, our skip container truck was out of service. As soon as its back it remains our priority to keep the streets clean,” Haihambo said.
“That area is supposed to have skip containers on a permanent basis. Basically there was supposed to be two and the intention was to increase them so that we have three, but the limiting factor is that we do not have the resources to buy at the moment.” Haihambo could not say as to when the skip container truck will be fixed. In February the Kavango East Regional Youth Forum, in conjunction with the regional council, hosted a clean-up campaign to which residents devoted their time and resources, with Maria Mwengere Road being the focus point. It is the main road that leads to the University of Namibia (Unam) Rundu campus, the Rundu Vocational Training Centre and the Kaisosi and Kehemu settlements.
Children from the nearby houses are occasionally seen playing amongst the filth, exposing them to diseases; something the health ministry has strongly advised against.
Some of the residents from nearby houses said it is not their intention to throw their waste along the road reserve, but they do not have an alternative. They said if the council has enough skip containers along the road, the road reserve will be kept clean. “It's not because we want to throw the rubbish along the road, but we have no alternative. Its either there are no skip containers or when they are placed here, they get full within a day and are left to overflow,” one resident said on condition of anonymity.
Kavango East Regional Youth Forum chairperson Anselm Marungu also called for more skip containers to be put in areas that are dumping hotspots. Marungu said they will not blame the residents, as it is a responsibility of the town council to put an effective management plan in place.
KENYA KAMBOWE
This is according to acting Rundu CEO Sikongo Haihambo who was responding to why the Maria Mwengere road reserve, which was cleaned up by various stakeholders earlier this year, has once again turned into a filthy eyesore.
“This week and last week, our skip container truck was out of service. As soon as its back it remains our priority to keep the streets clean,” Haihambo said.
“That area is supposed to have skip containers on a permanent basis. Basically there was supposed to be two and the intention was to increase them so that we have three, but the limiting factor is that we do not have the resources to buy at the moment.” Haihambo could not say as to when the skip container truck will be fixed. In February the Kavango East Regional Youth Forum, in conjunction with the regional council, hosted a clean-up campaign to which residents devoted their time and resources, with Maria Mwengere Road being the focus point. It is the main road that leads to the University of Namibia (Unam) Rundu campus, the Rundu Vocational Training Centre and the Kaisosi and Kehemu settlements.
Children from the nearby houses are occasionally seen playing amongst the filth, exposing them to diseases; something the health ministry has strongly advised against.
Some of the residents from nearby houses said it is not their intention to throw their waste along the road reserve, but they do not have an alternative. They said if the council has enough skip containers along the road, the road reserve will be kept clean. “It's not because we want to throw the rubbish along the road, but we have no alternative. Its either there are no skip containers or when they are placed here, they get full within a day and are left to overflow,” one resident said on condition of anonymity.
Kavango East Regional Youth Forum chairperson Anselm Marungu also called for more skip containers to be put in areas that are dumping hotspots. Marungu said they will not blame the residents, as it is a responsibility of the town council to put an effective management plan in place.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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