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eThekwini Judged Cleanest18 July, 2008 Story Written By Ken Mchunu eThekwini was named the cleanest Metro in the country, and was awarded R1-million at the prize-giving for the National Cleanest Town competition, in Boksburg recently. In addition, Buyisa E-Bag Plastics has pledged R800 000 for the winning municipality to use on recycling initiatives. It was the second time eThekwini took top place in the awards – the first time being in 2005.The win has been attributed to the success of the city-wide DSW buyback and recycling centres, landfill sites, refuse collection and disposal systems, as well as a host of other innovative ideas. Robert Abbu, DSW’s Deputy Head of Strategic and New Development, said: “This award is the culmination of hard work and dedication, driven by the management and staff of DSW and the commitment and participation of the community and business partners.” The prize money awarded to winning municipalities was intended to encourage the creation of jobs through the establishment of buy back recycling centres, as well as to foster capacity building in waste management. Runners-up in the metro category were Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town. They received R750 000 and R500 000, respectively. The Swartland Local Municipality was named the cleanest in the local municipalities category. Govan Mbeki and the Greater Tzaneen municipalities came second and third respectively. Abbu encouraged residents to continue “taking ownership and responsibility for sustaining our environment”. He said our world would be a better place without litter. The competition was introduced by the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in 2001,as part of the National Waste Management Strategy, which aims to cut waste generation and disposal by 50% and 25%respectively by 2012 and develop a plan for zero tolerance by 2022. It honours small and large municipalities that have implemented initiatives that involve communities in cleaning up their environment. mchunuk@durban.gov.za |
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