Over 200 volunteers took part in a clean-up in the western suburb of Avonlea last month. Harare West Member of the National Assembly, Honourable Jessie Fungayi Majome MP, was there with her sleeves rolled up, picking up rubbish with the rest of the team. Avonlea is in Hon. Majome’s constituency of Harare West in Ward 41.

The clean-up activity was organised by the Imagine Avonlea committee as part of the global Clean Up the World campaign. It was supported by the Proudly Zimbabwean Foundation, Plastix Incorporated and the City of Harare Waste Management Department.

Kicking off at Dunstable Circle at 7am, it finished with a community meeting at 11.30am. Hon. Majome was encouraged by the determination of the Avonlea residents to make their suburb a cleaner place, commending Nick Takavadii, secretary of Imagine Avonlea, and the team for a job well done. She explained to the meeting after the clean-up that she was interested in improving the environment of the constituency. She stressed however, that while her role as MP is to legislate, supervise government business and representation, it is important to note that council service delivery issues such water supply, roads, street lighting and garbage collection are the responsibility of the Mabelreign-Marlborough Council District Officer Ms M Mverechena and Ward 41 Councillor Mrs C Bango.

“This has not been the first time that I have done a clean-up in the area. This time round I am impressed that the residents have taken charge,” she praised, referring to a successful clean-up she organised in the Greencroft-Avonlea area with Miracle Missions on her last day of office in the 7th Parliament on 29 June 2013. She has since been re-elected into the 8th Parliament.

Mrs P Mukudu from the City of Harare Waste Management Department was also there. She spoke of the need to properly dispose of diapers, not to mix them with other domestic rubbish. She also highlighted the issue of vendors who should also be responsible for the areas they work in and warned Avonlea residents not to plant crops on the wetland that is behind Dunstable Circle.

For information about refuse collection as well as reporting illegal dumping, contact Mrs Mukudu on 752637 or 0772 259 596. Reach Mabelereign-Marlborough Council District Officer Ms M Mverechena on 305238, or Ward 41 Councillor Mrs C Bango on 0777 374 069.