Alex is going green
ALEXANDRA - The provincial government and the Joburg City Council re launched the provincial environmental management programme said to have stalled for years, this weekend in Alexandra, a township said to be one of the 50 dirtiest places in the province.
The provincial government and the Joburg City Council relaunched the provincial environmental management programme, said to have stalled for a few years, this weekend in Alexandra, a township said to be one of the top 50 dirtiest places in the province.
This through an environmental awareness campaign to promote clean living, a clean-up, greening and bringing financial benefits through the conversion of waste into a lucrative income source.
Symbolic as it was, the campaign had city, provincial and national leaders including Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau; MECs Lebohang Maile and Matsidiso Mfikoe of Economic Development, Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development and Environment and Infrastructure Services respectively; Premier David Makhura; and Environmental Affairs minister, Edna Molewa joined by volunteers and residents to collect trash at Madala and Helen Joseph hostels, the Jukskei River, the Setwetla Informal Settlement and taxi ranks.
Makhura said the initiative is a long-term programme to clean up Gauteng, which accounts for 45 percent of national waste, 65 percent of which is recyclable and financially profitable.
“The programme is part of the provincial plan to promote a green and clean environment and to create awareness of the potential financial gains through the recycling economy, which will create employment, businesses, improve household incomes and develop a consciousness and culture about a sustainable and clean environment,” Makhura said.
He added that they chose to relaunch the campaign in Alex which, together with the inner city, were two of the province’s dirtiest places, in a bid to help restore and reaffirm residents’ pride in their immediate environment. “Instilling in them pride will also help tackle crime by opening up [and turning] crime-ridden dumping places into parks and gardens for leisure and nutritional benefits, create healthy playgrounds for children and encourage civil spirit that protects government property [sic].”
Makhura said 200 green cadets had been recruited for the programme and will be trained to work with communities to raise environmental health awareness.
They will complement government and the City’s efforts to encourage the formation of green-related businesses through co-operatives supported by Jozi@Work and other youth-based initiatives on environmental management.
The Alex clean-up, he stressed, will be reviewed to ensure there was no relapse. The campaign will extend to other areas. He urged council to provide residents with bins and plastic bags to help them maintain the clean-up momentum and to hold them accountable.
