Harare launches bins blitz on kombis

City of Harare launched a two week bins blitz on Monday 1 June 2015 that is aimed at ensuring that all passenger vehicles provide bins as dictated by Section 23, Statutory Instrument 6 of 2007.

Section 23 of Statutory Instrument 6 of 2007 makes it mandatory for every passenger vehicle to have a litter bin. Failure to have a bin attracts a $5 fine while the throwing of litter out of a vehicle attracts a fine of $50 under Statutory Instrument 52 of 2011.

Council is working in conjunction with other stakeholders who include kombi operators, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA). Harare’s principal customer relations officer Dorothy Mavolwane urged kombi crews to have bins in their vehicles and also inform passengers not to throw litter through the window as it was a crime.

“This program is part of council’s environmental recovery plan. We are holding awareness campaigns in the first week while enforcement will start in the second week,” explained Mavolwane.

Council has over the years battled with the management of litter in the CBD and this has been attributed by some to council’s failure to enforce existing by-laws on litter. Some kombi crews who spoke to 263Chat said that they were considering introducing measures to reduce litter in their vehicles.

“Passengers are a big problem because they want to eat in the kombi leaving a lot of litter. We are considering totally banning people from eating in the kombis,” said Terrence a kombi conductor at Fourth Street.

Another kombi driver at Copacabana who refused to be named concurred with Terrence saying that council should clamp down on passengers who throw litter through the window as well as in their vehicles.

“I have a bin in my kombi but, you find that passengers still throw litter out of the window and on the floor. Our main challenge is that we are not empowered to deal with litterbugs in our vehicles because some of them become confrontational when you ask them to use the bin,” explained the kombi driver.

Throwing of litter through the window is not only known to cause littering but, can also result in serious accidents on the road as the tossed out litter can distract other drivers on the road. Some people have in the past called for the introduction of punitive measures to force attitude change towards litter disposal and it is hoped that this move by council will go a long way in dealing with litterbugs.