ZAMBIA (eTN) – In 2013, Livingstone and Victoria Falls town will co-host the UNWTO annual general meeting. Zimbabwe has already started preparing โ there are comments in the newspapers almost every day about their plans. In Zambia, I have only seen one comment from Zambia โ the information coming from a meeting in Bulawayo. It was said at the meeting that US$1.2million has been set aside for the preparations.
If Zambia is to be ready, the time to start is now. We cannot do this in the usual Zambian way and have hundreds of meetings during the run-up to the meeting, only to start preparations a week before the event. If Livingstone is to be ready, clean up of the town needs to start now.
There has been some evidence of workers cleaning up drains, but there are still many to be done. Many of the drains are full of plants and litter, and there are trees in town which are bare, unattractive, and, often covered in litter.
Where does all the litter come from? Ninety percent of it likely comes from street vendors, and these guys are illegal โ no matter how much we want to feel sorry for them. At night, the corridors are full of these venodrs, and they leave their mess behind for the cleaners from the Council to come and clean up in the morning. Surely the sensible thing would be to get rid of these illegal vendors once and for all and have clean, tidy corridors.
If Zambia is to have beautiful gardens to show off in 2013, planting should start now โ this will provide 2 rainy seasons for the plants to get established. Were the Council to get in touch with local businesses and associations in the next few weeks, it could all be done.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- We cannot do this in the usual Zambian way and have hundreds of meetings during the run-up to the meeting, only to start preparations a week before the event.
- At night, the corridors are full of these venodrs, and they leave their mess behind for the cleaners from the Council to come and clean up in the morning.
- In Zambia, I have only seen one comment from Zambia โ the information coming from a meeting in Bulawayo.