Minister joins residents in clean-up campaign

Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources Nancy Tembo on Friday joined Dedza residents in clearing waste at the foot of Dedza Mountain where people  were dumping waste.

The minister, who was the guest of honour at the clean-up exercise organised by Chifuno Changa Green Initiative in conjunction with Dedza District Council Environmental Office, urged residents to dispose of waste in a safe manner to conserve the environment.

Tembo urged people in the district to properly manage waste and preserve Dedza Mountain which she said was a tourist attraction.

“This initiative should be a signal to all of us to change the way we manage our waste because Dedza Mountain is a tourism spot which is losing its value due to unsafe waste disposal which is hurting the environment,” she said.

The minister said there is potential to start businesses from the waste and that her ministry is exploring ways to ensure that people should start making money from waste.

Chifuno Changa Green Initiative founder Chifuno Stevens said there was need to come up with new ways of disposing waste.

She disclosed that her organisation would engage the council to formulate by-laws regulating waste disposal in the district.

In his remarks, Dedza District acting environmental officer Dalitso Mndinda stressed the need for people to refrain from dumping garbage in Dedza Mountain.

He acknowledged that the current situation is terrible as waste is piling up at the mountain which is negatively affecting the ecology.

The mountain clean-up exercise received support from well-wishers, including Standard Bank of Malawi who purchased equipment used for the exercise.