14 Nov 2022

Batswana have been urged to do all in their power to keep the environment clean.

Speaking in an interview after a clean- up campaign in Kanye on Sunday, which comes shortly after he attended a global summit that also dealt with the environment in Egypt, Kanye South member of parliament, Dr Lemogang Kwape said he realised the need to embark on a clean-up campaign to keep Kanye clean.

Dr Kwape said as a company operating in the area, ABSA saw it fit to partake in the exercise, noting that upon hearing about the idea, different stakeholders such as mephato, councillors, dikgosi, societies and residents came on board.

He said they were deeply concerned about illegal waste dumping, mostly on the outskirts of the village, adding that they had therefore engaged the police and environmental department to put up message boards, warning that dumping of waste in such places was an offence.

Dr Kwape advised residents to dump waste at designated places or alternatively engage the council to collect waste from their yards.

He said people could also sell some of the waste to recycling companies and make some money out of it. 

“We therefore like to teach people about all these, in order to have a clean and healthy environment,” he said.

He thanked all those who took part in the clean-up operation, saying such exercises would continue. “Apart from fighting global warming, this will also stop different diseases that may break out due to dirty environment,” he added.

Mr Kago Kgengwenyane from Environmental Health department said they were deeply concerned about illegal dumping of waste, adding that they always educate Batswana about safe disposal of waste, as that could assist in having a clean and healthy environment.

Mr Kgengwenyane said money used to clean illegally dumped waste could be used for other developmental projects, hence his plea for legal and safe disposal of waste. ends