Clean up your act

By now the subject of litter, garbage, filth – call it what you like – will have become rather too familiar to the readers. But kindly suppress your yawn for a minute or two to read a success story for a change.

The trouble is that streets covered in garbage is a symbol of (choose your phrase) a breakdown of government, the collapse of society, crumbling of the economy, lawlessness, laziness, and so on. One cannot but remark on it.

It was, we are told, just such a analysis, combined with a massive level of malaria made worse by drains blocked by garbage, that triggered a decision by the Governor of Katanga to launch his clean-up campaign. Some background: Katanga is the location of massive and very profitable mines and is the richest province in the Congo. The Governor, who is very wealthy (we do not ask where the money came from) leads the province with energy and charisma.

He decided it was time to take action. With the mayor of Lubumbashi, the capital city, he launches operation clean up. So important is this to them that the first thing you see when you enter the town hall is a large yellow neon proclaiming OPERATION USAFI. The launch was marked by the Governor himself, the Mayor and many Ministers participating in street clean-ups. To put his money where his mouth is, the Governor buys large litter bins on which is clearly and indelibly proclaimed “Gift of Moise Katumbi” (himself, of course). The city bought a fleet of refuse trucks and the Mayor proclaimed penalties for littering which are enforced by the “Sanitary Police.” We stumbled across a meeting of the sanitary police, who were clearly chosen for their mean expressions and bad tempers. They wear flourescent yellow jackets and bright yellow hard hats to protect themselves from attack by litterers.

Social control and good examples by the leadership are not enough: until there is an efficient garbage removal service the system will not work properly. As chance would have it, we met a British company which is proposing to enter into partnership with the Katanga authorities to provide just such a service, and which was looking for additional funding. They gave us an enthusiastic presentation, promising to have a modern, efficient and cost-effective system in place within 5 years. The Minister who accompanied them sat with hands folded over stomach, grunting periodically with satisfaction.

The results are already remarkable. There are still a few plastic bags and bits of paper blowing around which even the hygiene police couldn’t prevent, but the contrast with Kinshasa is breathtaking. Everywhere looks relatively clean, even in and around the local markets which are so often generate mounds of rubbish. The stormwater drains are clean, and flooding caused by blockages has become something of the past. The only loosers are the mosquitoes who are now very frustrated by the lack of water to have babies in, and frankly I don’t care.