Lusaka Mayor, Miles Sampa, has called for the involvement of children in the Make Zambia Clean, Green and Healthy Campaign monthly cleaning activities.
Mr Sampa said children are the ones who mostly affected by waterborne diseases such as Cholera.
He was speaking during the monthly cleaning activities in Chazanga today.
“Children must be involved in the cleaning activities so that they are also aware of the importance of keeping the environment clean because they are the most hit when Cholera breaks out,” he said.
The city father said adults in most cases leave children at home and where they start involving themselves in an unhygienic practices such as drinking unsafe water.
Mr Sampa also observed that involving children in issues of hygiene is the only sure way of sustaining the cleanliness of the city because they are the future leaders.
“We have to target children because if we teach them now they also teach others in future,” he observed.
Meanwhile, Mpulungu Ward 23 Councillor, Christopher Shakafuswa, has taken a swipe at school authorities in his ward for not taking part in monthly cleaning activities.
Mr Shakafuswa, who is also Lusaka Deputy Mayor said he communicated to all Headteachers in his ward through the Zonal Headteacher for schools to be participating in monthly cleaning activities but to no avail.
He sounded the last warning to school authorities that if nothing changes, he will be forced to report Headteachers to the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) for disciplinary action.
“This is the last warning I’m giving to Headteachers and if nothing happens then I will have no choice but to report them to DEBS office because this is a government programme,” he warned.
Mr Shakafuswa also reminded Community Based Enterprises (CBEs) to up their game in waste collection.
He disclosed that he had received reports from residents that CBEs in the area are not doing enough to collect waste.
“Reports indicate that you are not doing enough to collect waste, you disappear and only reappear when its time to collect money,” he said.
Mr Shakafuswa explained that CBEs in the ward were engaged because they demonstrated capacity prior to their engagement.
He warned that their contracts would be terminated and the service be advertised to the general public if they do not improve.
“If you don’t improve Council through the Director of Public Health will terminate contracts and readvertise the service to the general public,” he warned.
Yesterday’s cleaning activities also involved door – to – door sensitisation on solid waste management.
We are saying from grade 1 , teach children environmental classes right up to grade 7.
Let primary school children be taught how to care for their environment and natural resources.
By the time they get to the streets, in some cases after grade 7, Zambia will be a changed place.
Almost everyone in markets and on streets has Been to primary school.
If they had been taught how to look after our environment , we would not have such dirty towns.
That is chil labor you are starting, mwe mbbwa mwee..
Imwe baffikkala, what time children throw away trash? Children are always in school, or they should be school and not cleaning garbage in street of Lusaka.
Look at this du.ll Stu.id idiyotee…….
Is teaching children in primary schools environmental awareness child labour ???
Or this fooool thinks kids dropping out of primary education don’t end up working o streets when they reach adulthood ???
Why has Zambia got so many du.ll people who seem to know how to read and write like this dum above ???
I think children should be involved to some extent.
There can be chores designed for them.
Child labour laws do not apply here.
Useless chap, I did think he was one of the new generation at one point but he is just like the rest of them. The only thing that has changed is his potbelly.
This is the idyot that’s resisting paying K7,000 monthly support for his 3 children, ichisushi cha muntu ichi. Has he no shame to talk about children? How much does he spend on his concubines
What a load of nonsense! Leave the teachers and children out of this political issue. Let the teachers do the job of teaching academic stuff and let the children learn at school and study at home. It’s important that children are taught about cleanliness and how to dispose of rubbish in the most appropriate way and this teaching should start from home and continued at school. The law should reprimand any adult or child found to be littering and councils should provide adequate bins where people can throw away their rubbish. Councils should also collect and destroy rubbish on specific days. I thought people paid some kind of council tax that goes towards cleaning the streets???
Firstly this fool wants to sell the library, wants to sell the park and now he is talking about encouraging child labour. But you sir are a very foolish man with no shred of morals. The garbage never finishes in lusaka, there is chaos on the roads as bus station are everywhere now. People have began making the area around ACC at kulima tour a market again and you are busy talking about children cleaning garbage. You get paid to clean the garbage or are you keeping the garbage as your wife since you said you are married to the garbage in Lusaka for now.
Very rich coming from a fat rat like him who has failed to pay his children’s maintenance costs and yet no one forced him to get on top of his ex wife ******** These are men giving you zambian men a bad name. That is why led of you are finding love with white women like mine, these days
Firstly this fool wants to sell the library, wants to sell the park and now he is talking about encouraging child labour. But you sir are a very foolish man with no shred of morals. The garbage never finishes in lusaka, there is chaos on the roads as bus station are everywhere now. People have began making the area around ACC at kulima tour a market again and you are busy talking about children cleaning garbage. You get paid to clean the garbage or are you keeping the garbage as your wife since you said you are married to the garbage in Lusaka for now.
Charity begins at home.
Because living with filth has now become a way of life in Lusaka, begin with sensitization in schools about the filth. Let them watch a video see how dirty the city is. Then on designated day ie cleaning week let them participate in a cleaning activity. Run this through to college and university encourage them to suggest solutions on how they can improve cleanliness in our city. This program must be driven by the council. As to teachers failing to show up engage them in a civil manner listen to their challenges don’t threaten them. Have a heart for those over worked staff. Happy cleaning day.
What about the deplorable state of Lusaka’s roads?Are children expected to solve this problem too ?Have the Mayor and his cronies no shame?Are they paid to ponce around??