Mzuzu Council making strides to restore city’s beauty

Mzuzu City Council (MCC) says it is making strides to restore the beauty of the city by planting more trees.

On Thursday, the council in conjunction with other stakeholders planted trees at Moyale Primary School in the city.

Speaking to Malawi24, Public Relations Officer for Mzuzu City Council Karen Msiska said Mzuzu is famously known as the ‘green city’ because of its vast vegetative cover but due to deforestation the wetland as well as the city has lost its glory.

“Over the years there has been rampant deforestation that threatens not only  the ‘green city’  tag but also wetlands that help stabilise the city’s peculiar cool weather and water reservoirs supplying residents of the city,” said Msiska.

He added that as a key stakeholder and as a local government they thought it wise to be part of the afforestation efforts.

Msiska further said that councils are administrative hubs for cities and because of that status the councils find themselves at the centre of everything happening in respective cities.

“We reckon that forests are at the centre of sound health because of their numerous benefits and that’s the reason why we are compelled to take part in afforestation exercises,” he said.

However, when asked on the measures put in place to make sure the city is tidy at all times, Msiska said through the city’s department of health and sanitation services they are running a number of programs on sanitation and hygiene.

“We are running a number of projects on sanitation and hygiene, key among them being the Peri-Urban Sanitation  and Hygiene (PUSH) project which is funded by the European Union and implemented jointly by the Mzuzu City Council, Plan Malawi and the Malawi government,” said Msiska.

He added that the project comprises of construction of waste management site and placing of waste bins in the city streets. Through the project the council will also build toilets in markets and schools in the city.

He further said that the city council has a team of people who sweeps the streets of the city and they are investing in waste collection. Msiska also revealed that the city intends to buy a new vehicle for waste collection.