Efforts by voluntary cleaners from various suburbs are being rewarded with three month paid contracts for 340 members of the litter monitoring team.

This follows a January directive from government’s inter-ministerial committee that was setup to address the Typhoid outbreak in the city. The appointment of the litter monitors was delayed however as council sought clearance from the Ministry of Local government – which has subsequently been given.

A councillor who sits in the Human Resources Committee told Harare News that council is recruiting equal numbers of cleaners from each ward to fill the 340 posts.

“The Human Resources Committee decided that the anti-litter monitors should come from each ward and this means that each ward should provide seven anti-litter monitors,” said the councillor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This development comes as sweet news to many anti-litter monitors who have been offering cleaning services in their communities on a voluntary basis for up to two years. Miriam (36) an anti-litter monitor from Mbare said that the job offer will definitely motivate more residents to join community-based voluntary programs.

“This offer is definitely a motivating factor for other residents to also join the anti-litter monitoring scheme in the hope of also getting a job in the future. Though the program will not benefit all anti-litter monitors in Harare, I want to urge council to regularly consider community volunteers for short-term jobs in the municipality so that volunteering can be rewarded,” said Miriam.

However, some residents are not happy with the initiative. Training and Publications Officer for Harare Residents Trust (HRT) Sharon Magodyo said that her organisation was unhappy with council for incurring extra human resource expenses at a time when the existing workforce is not being paid, and not meeting its service delivery mandates.

“We denounce contracting of anti-litter monitors at a time where service delivery is at its lowest ebb. The council should channel the little resources to service delivery than contracting the anti-litters at the expense of ratepayers,” said Magodyo.

Magodyo also asked why the anti-litter monitors will only be deployed to work in the CBD and Mbare, “Why target CBD and Mbare, are they the only areas affected with the problem of litter? Are there not enough workers in the council? The Council should stop recruitment of contract workers and utilize volunteers. Mbare has got four wards from which the council should draw and capacitate volunteers for anti-litter monitoring.”