Mondesa residents urged to keep keep rubbish at bay

SEVERAL tonnes of refuse, including household and construction material, as well as 40 car wrecks have been removed from Mondesa at Swakopmund to the local dump site.

The recent mass removal formed part of the ‘Mondesa says NO to rubbish’ clean-up campaign. The week-long campaign was held in conjunction with World Environment Day.More than 100 community members, as well as the Swakopmund’s Municipal Health Department and refuse-removal team, took part.Although the primary aim was to clean up, the intention was also to raise awareness in the community about the prevention of environmental pollution, said Municipal spokesperson Freddie Kaukungua.He said it had become quite apparent that areas “which are allowed to remain dirty” were prone to becoming even dirtier because of an impression rooted in a perception that “litter gives permission to litter”.Although the campaign was carried out in Mondesa, Kaukungua said that this suburb was “no exception”, although pollution was more visible there because of the high density of the population.He said that illiteracy, a negative attitude to the preservation of the environment, and a shortage of refuse bins for household refuse, were some of the contributing factors to littering and illegal dumping.”Littering and illegal dumping of rubble has become a major source of concern throughout Swakopmund.These common practices include the illegal dumping of household refuse and building rubble onto open spaces,” he said.The week-long campaign was held in conjunction with World Environment Day.More than 100 community members, as well as the Swakopmund’s Municipal Health Department and refuse-removal team, took part.Although the primary aim was to clean up, the intention was also to raise awareness in the community about the prevention of environmental pollution, said Municipal spokesperson Freddie Kaukungua.He said it had become quite apparent that areas “which are allowed to remain dirty” were prone to becoming even dirtier because of an impression rooted in a perception that “litter gives permission to litter”.Although the campaign was carried out in Mondesa, Kaukungua said that this suburb was “no exception”, although pollution was more visible there because of the high density of the population. He said that illiteracy, a negative attitude to the preservation of the environment, and a shortage of refuse bins for household refuse, were some of the contributing factors to littering and illegal dumping.”Littering and illegal dumping of rubble has become a major source of concern throughout Swakopmund.These common practices include the illegal dumping of household refuse and building rubble onto open spaces,” he said.