Africa-Press – Botswana. Dukwi, Nswazwi and Makuta villages have been recognised as the cleanest in Tutume District for the categories of big, medium and small villages respectively.
Officiating at the awarding ceremony in Tutume on Wednesday, Kopane Mine representative, Mr Herbert Kebafetotse, said the clean-up campaign for all the villages and awards in the districts was launched last September in Dukwi with emphasis put on communities to take responsibility for their environment beginning with individual households.
Mr Kebafetotse said it was the communities’ responsibility to ensure that they kept their surroundings clean at all times and this calls for “Mindset Change” towards the way they had been interacting with their environment, adding that they should take the leading position of cautioning others that still throw away litter everywhere.
He said although the council had a mandate to collect refuse around villages, people have to ensure that they properly secure their waste and place it at designated places to make it easier for collection, noting that there were still some people who made it habit of placing their waste along the roads and on empty plots.
“Let us change the way we have been doing things for our own good for it will save our environment and health,” he said.
He commended villages that had set up shelters where waste is placed before being collected by the council or private companies, noting that such initiatives were important for it helped in maintaining cleanliness.
Mr Kebafetotse urged the leadership to intensify public education on recycling for many do not know that waste could create employment and business opportunities.
Mr Ishmael Mokgethi, the chairperson of the Environmental Health Committee, said it was imperative for community members to understand that waste was one of the main factors that bred diseases.
He said some ungazetted dumping sites lead to breeding of mosquitos, resulting in the outbreak of malaria.
Meanwhile the winning villages were awarded trophies and cash prizes with Dukwi walking away with P1200, Nswazwi P1 100 and Makuta and P1000.
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