Clean up campaigns bear fruit
The 25 May clean-up campaign appears to have had lasting effects with even notoriously filthy places like Adolfi location in the north, still cleaner than ever.
The national clean-up campaign that motivated thousands of Namibians to help clean their towns in May has inspired a renewed commitment by southern residents to keep their towns clean.
Catherine Boois, a senior manager at the Mariental municipality, says although an annual clean-up campaign was part of the town's schedule before President Hage Geingob's call for a national clean-up, his backing of the campaign helped spur on more residents to help.
“In past clean-up campaigns, it was difficult to get sufficient numbers of people to participate. That changed this year, because we exceeded our previous number of participants and I believe it was mainly because the call-up came from the president,” she told Namibian Sun.
She says since the national clean-up day the town has been noticeably cleaner and there are fewer cases of illegal rubbish dumping.
Boois says it appears the national campaign has led to a “definite change in attitude with regard to littering”.
But she warns that it remains important to educate communities on the dangers posed by littering and illegal rubbish dumping.
Keetmanshoop authorities described the 25 May clean-up day as a huge success.
More than 1 500 bags of litter were collected by the community and all neighbourhoods were cleared of litter. All illegal dumping sites were cleared within two days.
Dawn Kruger of the Keetmanshoop municipality told Namibian Sun that the campaign had a “noticeable impact” on the town's overall cleanliness and resident attitudes towards littering.
Both Boois and Kruger emphasise that the problem of littering has not been resolved entirely.
“Littering and illegal dumping remain major problems in Keetmanshoop, and the municipality is using various measures to curb this unfortunate practice,” Kruger said.
Boois from Mariental added that the problem was confined to the informal areas in the town.
“That would be mainly because the formal areas as well as the semi-formal areas are provided with refuse bins, whereas informal settlement residents are given black bags and access to skip containers for their refuse removal,” she explained.
Not all the bags are used as intended for refuse collection, and the refuse is instead dumped illegally.
She said the municipality was looking at ways to address the problem.
At Keetmanshoop, areas outside the town are most often used for illegal dumping of building rubble and garden refuse, Kruger said.
JANA-MARI SMITH
Catherine Boois, a senior manager at the Mariental municipality, says although an annual clean-up campaign was part of the town's schedule before President Hage Geingob's call for a national clean-up, his backing of the campaign helped spur on more residents to help.
“In past clean-up campaigns, it was difficult to get sufficient numbers of people to participate. That changed this year, because we exceeded our previous number of participants and I believe it was mainly because the call-up came from the president,” she told Namibian Sun.
She says since the national clean-up day the town has been noticeably cleaner and there are fewer cases of illegal rubbish dumping.
Boois says it appears the national campaign has led to a “definite change in attitude with regard to littering”.
But she warns that it remains important to educate communities on the dangers posed by littering and illegal rubbish dumping.
Keetmanshoop authorities described the 25 May clean-up day as a huge success.
More than 1 500 bags of litter were collected by the community and all neighbourhoods were cleared of litter. All illegal dumping sites were cleared within two days.
Dawn Kruger of the Keetmanshoop municipality told Namibian Sun that the campaign had a “noticeable impact” on the town's overall cleanliness and resident attitudes towards littering.
Both Boois and Kruger emphasise that the problem of littering has not been resolved entirely.
“Littering and illegal dumping remain major problems in Keetmanshoop, and the municipality is using various measures to curb this unfortunate practice,” Kruger said.
Boois from Mariental added that the problem was confined to the informal areas in the town.
“That would be mainly because the formal areas as well as the semi-formal areas are provided with refuse bins, whereas informal settlement residents are given black bags and access to skip containers for their refuse removal,” she explained.
Not all the bags are used as intended for refuse collection, and the refuse is instead dumped illegally.
She said the municipality was looking at ways to address the problem.
At Keetmanshoop, areas outside the town are most often used for illegal dumping of building rubble and garden refuse, Kruger said.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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