Environmental activist Maloto Chimkombero has removed waste in and around Area 3, and he has faulted the Lilongwe City Council for not showing commitment to manage waste in the city.
Chimkombero said in an interview that it takes weeks for the Lilongwe City Council to remove waste from the bins and skips around the town to the extent that the waste overflows.
He added that the council has a tendency of giving excuses whenever it is cornered on why it is failing to competently manage the waste.
According to Chimkombero, the council usually mentions financial challenges which seems as a lack of commitment because he believes a big institution like that one cannot fail to source funds for waste management.
He appealed to the City Council that it should look into its weaknesses and improve considering that the country cannot afford to have a capital city with unhygienic environment.
“And let me call upon the Mayor, Her Worship Juliana Kaduya to pull up her socks. She can do better. Let her use her powers accordingly and turn this city into admirable one. She can draw some lessons from former Blantyre Mayor, Noel Chalamanda, he achieved a lot on this.
“The only reaction that l have received from City Council is that they are willing to join the course, for instance, we will together clean up Lilongwe Bus Depot this coming Saturday,” he said.
The activist advised councils to purchase more skips and allocate them in all strategic public places and engage other stakeholders to civic educate the residents about proper waste disposal and management.
He also called upon government to come up with clear and sustainable policy and direction to deal with improper waste disposal in Malawi and that every district/town should have waste dumping facility as well as promoting waste recycling innovations and civic educate people on the topic to change their mindset.
He noted that even if he does not receive any support from the government, the lack of support will not stop him from offering his services to the country in whatever way he can.
Chimkombero then urged the residents of Lilongwe City to refrain from practices that contribute to unhygienic environment .
“It is sad to note that rivers and land have been polluted due to improper waste disposal, let’s stop that. For the home generated waste, I encourage the residents to engage the services of private waste management operators who can be collecting and dumping them at official dumping site on their behalves,” he said.
