The mountainous garbage which lies at the exit of the market is a health hazard to the community. Marketeers at Mwasauka market in Garden compound have expressed concern over the uncollected garbage by Lusaka City Council (LCC) despite signing a contract for garbage collection.
Speaking in an interview with the Lusaka Star, Mwasauka market chairman Lyford Banda said the mountainous garbage which lies at the exit of the market is a health hazard to the community.
“The garbage is posing a health threat to the marketeers and consumers in our market and it is also an environmental hazard because this is where all garbage and waste material from different selling points around the market is dumped hence it is producing a bad smell,” Mr. Banda said.
He added that as a market they have forwarded numerous complaints to LCC concerning the garbage but nothing has been done about it.
Mr Banda explained that the market signed a contract with LCC to be collecting garbage at a fee but they have not been collecting the trash despite having made all the necessary payments.
“LCC has been complaining about the unavailability of transport to collect the garbage as their reason for not disposing of the garbage at our market,” he said.
He added that it was unfair for LCC to keep collecting garbage collection levy from Mwasauka market without providing the service.
And when contacted, LCC Assistant Public Relations Manager Mulunda Habeenzu said that LCC Waste Management team was aware of the situation at the market and plans to collect the garbage were underway.
Mr. Habeenzu said the delay in collecting garbage at Mwasauka market was due to the worn out state of the bin.
“The current state of the bin at the market makes it difficult for council workers to collect garbage, hence we will have the bin replaced to make it easy for those in charge of collecting,” he said.
Mr Habeenzu has since assured traders at Mwasauka market that the problem will be rectified soon.