Monze traders irritated by Uncollected garbage

By ANDREW MUKOMA TRADERS at Chisekesi area in Monze have complained of huge heaps of uncollected garbage in trading places. The traders feared that the garbage could lead to outbreak of diseases. Ms Carolina Mudenda, a trader, complained that despite the council collecting levy it was failing to deliver quality services. Ms Mudenda said traders in the area had lost confidence in the Monze Town Council because of its failure to provide services to the people. She said this at a Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) public interface in Chisekesi on Wednesday. “There is garbage all over which is not collected yet we pay levy to the council,” Ms Mudenda said. Another trader, Ms Mirriam Moonga, said residents in the area were worried that failure by the council to collect garbage in time promoted scavenging among children. “We want the council to promptly collect garbage in trading places so that our area remain clean all the time as you know that in rain season there are disease outbreaks such as cholera,” said Ms Joyce Hakoola. But a Monze Town Council health educator, Malawi Handema, urged citizens not to be dumping garbage indiscriminately. “As patriotic citizens we need to adopt ways on how to manage waste not just throwing things anyhow.  The council only picks garbage that is heaped at designated areas. So ensure that dirty is put at the right place,” Mr Handema said. He said it was not possible for the local authority to collect garbage everyday as there were selected days for such undertakings. Meanwhile, Southern province CSPR coordinator, Edna Kumwenda, encouraged citizens to engage their local leadership whenever they faced a problem.  “As CSPR with sponsorship from GIZ under the citizens Local Participation in Governance (LoPaGo) we are promoting public interface for citizens to engage with public service providers,” said Ms Kumwenda.