Vendors in Mzuzu City have urged the city council to collect refuse to ensure clean environment to prevent cholera outbreaks during the rainy season.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Vigwagwa Market maize section secretary Jam Kayange said people are forced to dump refuse in undesignated spaces because the city council is not providing bins to the market.
Market in Mzuzu. I Glory Mvula
He said: “The city council collects the refuse although not all of it. That is why we still have piles of waste in our market.
“However, the problem is that when it rains, the refuse is scattered all over, with some blocking water drains.”
Edina Chakwana, who sells cassava at Vigwagwa Market agreed with Kayange’s sentiments, saying they need bins at the market to prevent market users from littering anywhere.
“A clean market environment is essential for our customers, especially during the rainy season such as this one,” she said.
In a separate interview, Mzuzu City Council spokesperson McDonald Gondwe said the failure to collect refuse in the city is due to lack of equipment.
“We have one reliable truck which is supposed to collect refuse in all townships around Mzuzu City, which is difficult,” he said.
Gondwe asked the city’s residents to support the council to keep the city clean as part of plans to restoring its former status of a green city.
“We are coming up with a special team which will focus on proposal writing to get finances to buy equipment to improve our waste management,” he said.
