Africa-Press – Botswana. The vision to transform Jwaneng into an eco-town requires all stakeholders to take responsibility by adopting best waste management practices, Jwaneng Mine senior safety and sustainable development manager, Dr Kegomoditswe Maphane, has said.
Speaking at Jwaneng clean-up campaign on Tuesday, he said such practices should go beyond effective waste disposal and incorporate deriving value from recycling waste.
“A holistic, multi-stakeholder and sustainable approach is called for to encourage our community to reduce waste, conserve resources, and ultimately protect the environment as well as derive value from waste,” he said.
Dr Maphane said the initiative #WeSparkleLikeDiamonds, by Jwaneng community, was a step in the right direction towards attaining Vision 2036 pillar for a sustainable environment, as well as the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. He underscored the need for individual and collaborative efforts towards sustainable waste management.
He said Jwaneng Mine continued to forge strategic partnerships with other stakeholders such as Jwaneng Town Council to support various objectives, including environmental cleanliness.
He said through their Building Forever strategy, Jwaneng Mine had partnered with the community to commit to zero recyclable materials to landfill, with the intention to effectively use all recyclable waste for economic benefit.
He said such initiatives would contribute towards transforming Jwaneng into a reference point for sustainable and effective waste management.
He therefore called for unity to achieve these objectives.
“My call is that we do not make this initiative as an event, but a journey that will see other community members and the young generation joining hands on this call to deliver a cleaner and healthy Botswana for now and for future generations,” he said.
The Chairperson of #WeSparkLikeDiamonds initiative, Ms Nthabiseng Mmusi, underscored the need to restore Jwaneng Township to reflect the valuable diamonds they mine.
She said introducing the cleanest ward competitions was intended to not only to promote responsibility among communities, but also resonated with Jwaneng regeneration strategy, whose objective was to restore the appearance of the township.
The Deputy Mayor of Jwaneng, Mr Themba Pema, said environmental cleanliness should be prioritised since it contributed to the general appearance of the area. He also acknowledged the ward competitions, as an initiative geared towards promoting healthy competition within the township.
Additionally, Mr Pema said the competitions would motivate community members to keep a clean environment, while also promoting the use of waste material for income generation.
Meanwhile, Kgalagadi ward was awarded P2 500 cash prize and a certificate for being the cleanest ward in Jwaneng, followed by Mogale and Seole, which walked away with P1 500 and P1 000 respectively.
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