BY EPHREM ANDARGACHEW
Hawassa– Hawassa city administration stated that the green development and cleaning undertakings, which have been carried out by the state coupled with public participation are making the city a neat, livable, and preferable place for tourists.
The greenery and cleaning tasks in the city have helped the administration create job opportunities for more than 850 University graduates and another 4,500.
Hawassa City Municipality Green Development Expert Teklu Dera told The Ethiopian Herald that the green development and cleaning works run by residents and the administrations have helped the city meet national and regional standards.
There are 17 green development projects at the national level, which require 30 percent to be used for green development, 30 percent for infrastructure work, and 40 percent for construction work.
Taking this standard into account, the city administration and the residents have made the city beautiful, clean, and livable by making it green. Besides, places, where the residents dumped garbage and are exposed for committing crimes, are now made clean and attractive, he added.
Furthermore, the greenery work increases the green area coverage in the city since individuals are expected to make areas green up to 20 meters, whereas institutions are up to 50 meters.
Hence, the residents of the city have so far been able to do over 180 million birr greenery tasks. Besides, above 75,000 hectares of greenery tasks have been done by revising the areas that violated the plan of the city.
The city administration has provided citizens with awareness creation activities and put fines up to 1,800 Birr to protect green areas from damage and theft.
“The green development works, which used to be done by certain individuals in the past, allow society, especially the youth, to benefit from job opportunities by organizing themselves into various groups. In particular, the 17 green development associations set up in 2014 have now reached 165 with five members. This allows over 850 university graduates to benefit out of the sector.”
Apart from the associations, he said over 4500 thousand workers are employed in the sector to water plants, tend vegetables, add natural fertilizers, do conservation works, and so on.
Teklu added: “More than 25 associations have been organized to collect waste from individual homes, hotels, industries, and the like. In doing so, it is possible to create job opportunities for more than 2,000 workers, 1,500 of whom are women.”
Waste disposal and management were not given due attention in the city earlier, but currently, the city administration has come up with different strategies to manage and recycle the collected waste.
Furthermore, some 60 to 70 percent of the waste collected in the city has been converted into natural fertilizer, which is utilized for the greenery tasks of the city by organizing 3 associations. As a result, the city can cover more than 23 percent of the compost needed for green development.
Recycling of paper waste has also improved not only for transforming the waste management and disposal system of the city but also for creating more jobs for the youth, he elaborated.
The Ethiopian Herald 19 March 2023
