03 Nov 2021

Jwaneng Town Council (JTC) together with the Debswana Jwaneng Mine and its contracting partners have committed themselves to collaborate on waste management in the mining town.

Speaking at the occasion, Debswana Jwaneng Mine general manager, Mr Koolatotse Koolatotse reminded the companies that it was not the responsibility of JTC alone to ensure that the town was kept in a clean environment, but that the companies too should do their part.

Mr Koolatotse said that this was more so that Jwaneng mine and its business partners had close to 6 000 people under their ambit, excluding their dependants and family members, meaning all that happened in Jwaneng whether good or bad could be reasonably attributed to their presence.

“It is therefore imperative on us to collaborate to ensure that our stay here is safe, healthy and does not contaminate the environment anyhow. Waste is becoming an issue of growing concern worldwide, both as a nuisance if not well managed but also as a money spinner if one becomes innovative. 

We cannot talk of sustainable development if we fail at the simple basics of managing the waste that we generate,” he said.

To nip the problem in the bud, Mr Koolatotse said, there was need to collaborate first at planning stages of development so that stakeholders could have a good idea of resources needed to achieve desired objectives over a set time. 

He said that this would help in the harmonisation of ideas, plans and eliminate duplicity of efforts.

For her part, Jwaneng mayor, Ms Olga Ditsie said maintaining a clean environment could not be achieved by a once off event such as a clean-up campaign day, but that it required behavioral change by individuals.

“If we still have people that impulsively throw away litter in the streets, then no matter how much we clean-up, our efforts towards a clean environment will be in vain. 

So I would like to urge individuals to take responsibility towards ensuring a clean environment by desisting from casual littering,” she said.

She conceded that JTC had been facing a challenge of irregular waste collection due to factors such as lack of funds and tender awarding. 

She said this led to especially garden waste pilling up. She however indicated that the situation was now much better as they managed to contact a few local companies to complement the town council’s resources.

Ms Ditsie also stated that the financial challenge had compelled the council to start charging households for garbage collection, a move that she said would help the council sustain itself in providing the service.

On the issue of waste water, Ms Ditsie said Water Utilities Corporation was currently replacing old pump stations, a project that she said would  hopefully improve the issues of leakages.

Ms Ditsie also pledged to donate some ornamental plants to be planted along some streets in Jwaneng, saying that this was motivated by the realisation that Jwaneng as a mining town was not aesthetically pleasing and needed to be improved. Ends