Sustained effort needed to keep our towns clean

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam

Virtually all of our towns and cities have one common unenviable feature – dirtiness. Except for a few urban areas, most notably Moshi, Arusha and Mwanza, Tanzanian towns are characterised by scattered litter, for people care little about where they dispose of pieces of paper, fruit peels, used bottles, etc.

Under the Environmental Management Act, urban authorities are vested with the powers to make by-laws to take legal action against people who mess up with cleanliness. However, these are not effected. Besides, many local authorities lack effective waste control systems.

An official of the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC), Ms Anna Maembe, says proper knowledge on managing solid and liquid waste is one of the biggest environmental control challenges facing urban areas in Tanzania today.

Her observations are valid, for any quick survey will show that most of our urban authorities do not have effective systems of waste disposal.

Read full story >> - click here.