17 Apr 2020

 Gaborone City Council has embarked on a mass exercise of disinfecting public and open spaces in Gaborone in response to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

GCC fire and public health departments began disinfecting the bus rank, including its public toilets on April 15 and would be rolling out the exercise to shopping malls in the coming days.

In an interview, Gaborone mayor, Mr Father Maphongo, said as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the council decided to embark on a mass exercise to fumigate areas that people frequented such as the bus rank and shopping malls.

“We have identified five places being the bus and taxi rank, BBS Mall, African Mall and the Civic Centre,” he said.

He said they had wished to fumigate more public areas but they were financially constrained and thus appealed to the public, especially the private sector, for assistance.

Mr Maphongo also encouraged the public to take heed of various messages that government was disseminating, especially staying home during the extreme social distancing period to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

“The virus does not transmit itself but rather it is transmitted by us moving from one place to another. Let us all be encouraged to stay home,” he said. ENDS