ENVIRONMENT, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira says there is a need to work together to ensure there is a safe and clean environment in the country.
Minister Mupfumira’s statement bodes well with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Clean-up Campaign which has gained massive support from both the public and private sector across the country.
Speaking at the launch of the Manicaland Integrated Environmental School Projects Program at St Noah College in Mutare District, Minister Mupfumira said there is a need to invest in a good environment.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this planet is globe shaped and everything circulates around the face of it in line with a common saying ‘what goes around comes around’ way of life. We reap what we sow and if we invest in making a good environment, we will enjoy the good fruits but if we destroy the environment then we will be victims of a poor and unproductive environment.
“Now is the time we work towards attaining a clean, safe and healthy environment, teaching the youth through practising with them the right actions for sustainable development.
“Today’s launch is not a product of one entity, my ministry is coordinated and is moving as a team, each parastatal running on a defined role. As we toured the school, I realised that the school now has clean water, fishponds for aquaculture, an orchard as well as mechanisms to prevent pollution through the waste collection for recycling,” he said.
Mupfumira added that such an integrated approach ensures access to clean water from the borehole, food security and nutrition from the aquaculture project, fruit orchard and botanic garden and to ensure cleanliness at the school.
She said “it is our national aspiration to have every school in Zimbabwe equipped with these facilities not only for educational purposes but as a source of food and income for the school and community around it,” said the minister.
St Noah College becomes the 8th school to benefit from the program after Bulu Secondary School (Mat South), Dzumbunu Primary School (Mash East), Umzururu Primary School (Mash West), Chidembo High School (Mash Central), King George VI (Bulawayo), Manyanda Secondary School (Mat North) and Mutendi High School (Masvingo).
The Environment Minister also applauded St Noah College for developing an effective waste management project and a model landfill.
“I am told waste management project at St Noah is helping to address the waste management challenges the college has been facing. I was happy to see that the school has gone a step higher by constructing a model landfill which other local schools in Manicaland must adopt.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot continue living with waste being an environmental menace and we need to take a new trajectory to waste management in order to keep the country sustainably clean.
“It is high time we embrace a ‘zero tolerance to litter’ culture as a nation,” she said.
According to Mupfumira, people should always remember that the environment exists for all generations and that whatever they do they should remember that future generations will judge them for the decisions they make today for the environment.
