Can a city be cleaned in a day?
This is the challenge that MMC for public health in Nelson Mandela Baby, Lance Grootboom, is putting out to all residents and institutions in the metro.
As part of this initiative, Grootboom is encouraging every single resident, business, religious organisation, civic institution and school in the metro, to help clean and beautify the metro on Monday, March 22, a public holiday.
“I am putting this challenge out there because we can see that the city is badly in need of cleaning. When you look around, you see litter of all kinds. You find it in the streets, on verges, in gutters and there is a look of neglect.
“People have lost their sense of pride in the city and a dirty and untidy metro tends to create a feeling of hopelessness. I want to restore the metro to what it was in the past and what it can be again and I am counting on all residents to bring it to fruition,” Grootboom explained.
Residents who plan on taking up the challenge, are encouraged to use their own resources, move around in their immediate environment and spend approximately four hours cleaning the general area surrounding their homes or organisations.
Residents and institutions can also look at ways of beautifying their surrounding areas, such as little gardens on the verges or around trees in the street in front of their properties.
Those who would like to plant trees can contact the municipality to assist in providing small trees and plants, upon request.
“The purpose of this initiative is to bring about an awareness of the need for a change of behaviour in the areas of public hygiene and cleanliness in the metro.
“We have such a huge unemployment rate but investors don’t come to a city if it’s not clean.
“The public health directorate has been working hard to get the metro clean but it’s not coming clean. We need to take ownership.
“On this day, I will also use my own car and go around cleaning my environment. If people cannot afford refuse bags, the municipality can supply them,” Grootboom said.
He also mentioned that some might say cleaning the metro is not their job, but that of the municipality.
However, he emphasised that the benefits of a community coming together like this, could be far-reaching.
“Not only would the metro be clean, but I trust that it would bring about a sense of pride. When someone has been personally involved in an initiative like as this, it creates an awareness of what littering does and an appreciation of what it can be like with everyone doing his or her part.
“For example,participants should use the bins provided or keep litter with them until they get home and dispose of it in a responsible manner.
“It is also an opportunity to find out about the recycling projects in the metro,” Grootboom elaborated.
“If we have able-bodied residents in Nelson Mandela Bay cleaning and tidying up about 100 to 800 metres around their homes, businesses, churches or schools, the city can definitely be cleaned in a day.
“This initiative will be a first for the metro and I believe that we can all work together towards rebuilding Nelson Mandela Bay.”
Those with transport can take the waste collected to the drop sites in their respective areas.
Residents without transport should place the refuse bags at the corner of their streets to be collected by municipal waste collection trucks.
