$200 000 war chest for rehabilitation of open pits

Providence Moyo

BULAWAYO – Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has allocated US$200 000 towards rehabilitation of  open pits that have become a menace in the second largest city.

The pits that have emerged all over the city as a consequence of  infrastructure construction and sand poaching have over the years harmed  the environment but more importantly, have become veritable death traps for residents, especially children.

The decision by the Council to prioritize covering the pits came to light last Friday during an environmental media tour organized by the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) and meant to spotlight solid waste management and ecosystem protection.

Mr Lookout Ndlovu, BCC’s Roads Operations Engineer  vowed that the council will not leave any stone unturned in its quest to rid the city of the dangerous pits and that all pits will be rehabilitated to restore the environment and prevent unnecessary and avoidable deaths of children in the city.

Earlier this year, a notorious pit in Pelandaba suburb claimed the lives of three children when they drowned while swimming. The calamity prompted the local authority to speedily  close the pit.

“ As Council, we  are now filling up the pits that are deep so that water can flow to nearby streams and not collect within the pits because this has proved to be fatal for citizens,” he said.

Engineer Ndlovu revealed  that the local authority started the pit rehabilitation program early this year. He added that the program is presently at fifteen percent progress in the Pumula area.

According to Ndlovu, BCC has mapped all the open pits in the city using the Geographic Information System, and has earmarked all of them for rehabilitation so that the land can be used productively.

Sehlile Ndlovu, a city council official also in attendance said part of the rehabilitated land is set to be used for recreational purposes, adding that extraction of gravel is necessary.

“The extraction of gravel is a necessity even though it causes land degradation for road rehabilitation. As town planners, we demarcate several sites such that when a site gets decommissioned, it should be rehabilitated so that we move to the next one for gravel extraction,” said Ndlovu.

Sithembisiwe Ndlovu, Ema’s Provincial Manager stressed the need for stakeholders to unite in fighting illegal mining and sand poaching.

“We have a problem of illegal mining and illegal poachers and the result is land degradation. We encourage all the players, all institutions and residents to focus on ecosystem restoration,” she said.