Malawi’s First lady, Madame Gertrude Mutharika, has promised to provide rubbish bins, wheelbarrows and shovels to vendors of Lilongwe’s Tsoka flea market in continued efforts to keep the city clean under Beautify Malawi (BEAM Trust).

Madam Mutharika made the pledge on Wednesday at the market where she had led in a clean-up campaign in partial commemoration of 2016’s World Environment day, World Climate Change Week and launch of Ecosystem Based Adaptation For Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA).

She was responding to the vendors’ plea for the same.

“As per your request to have rubbish bins at your market, I will see to it that they are made available along with wheelbarrows and shovels,” said Madame Mutharika after challenging the vendors to keep clean and plant trees along the banks of Lilongwe River which flows through the market.

While commending BEAM Trust initiative, the vendors who spoke through Lilongwe Flea Market Chairperson, Mark Namponya, challenged the city’s council to emulate the First Lady’s initiative by coming up with “Let’s Keep Lilongwe Clean” campaign.

Madame Mutharika had since promised to work with the city council’s officials on the same to find of ways of how they can together keep the city and the country clean.

Supplementing Madame Mutharika’s remarks, Chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on Environment and climate change, Welani Chilenga disclosed that Parliament would soon table an “Environment Conservation” Bill which if supported and passed into Law would help enhance the BEAM Trust’s efforts.