22 Jul 2021

Waste management bye-laws are in place to ensure that both the council and the public are held accountable for waste disposal.

Francistown Senior Environment Health Officer Ms Mercy Mosi said with many citizens being ignorant of the responsibilities that come with the waste they produce from their homes and working areas, it was important to enforce the Public Health Act.

“New fines will be imposed upon anyone who chooses to ignore these laws as this is the only way to get everyone actively involved in taking care of the environment,” she said.

“These fines can go up to P1 000 depending on the state of the law breaking activity,” she added.

She also said the landfill would also observe a strict protocol of waste origin identification, sorting and receipting following safe disposal. Ms Mosi said tthey hoped the fines would serve as a deterrent to law breakers, whose violation of the law cost the department a lot of money to rectify.

She said the public could help the department to save money by reporting law breakers. 

“If your neighbor burns waste it does not only put the environment at risk but it also puts your health and that of your children at risk,” she added.

The principal consumer affairs officer Mr Kakanyo Botoka said every informal sector worker was expected to take care of the environment by observing safe waste management.

He said bye laws were put in place to ensure proper procedure was being followed in waste disposal  for the safety of the environment and human lives.

Mr Botoka noted that a distance of 2.5 meters between stalls at malls and bus ranks was required.

 “The stalls should be cleaned daily and may never used as sleeping quarters or be left dirty as this will lead to a fine not less than P200,” he added.

He also warned hawkers who used empty spaces without permission from the department, saying that caused overcrowding and could be life threatening during pandemics such as that of covid-19

A physical assessment has to be conducted when placing hawkers to ensure a distance between their stalls does not raise any risks in spreading the virus,” he said.

Mr Botoka encouraged the public to report any traders who worked without licenses or any law breakers who posed a threat to human life aand to the environment. ends