The State Vice President Right Honourable Saulos Chilima has urged the populace to embrace the cleaning exercise.

Chilima made the remarks today when he presided over the launch of National Clean Up Day in the commercial city of Blantyre which was organized by Blantyre City Council.

Writing on his official Facebook page, Chilima appealed to the general public to avoid littering anyhow whilst quoting “cleanliness is next to godliness”

The vice president also observed that waste management has become a huge challenge in this era especially in towns, major trading centers, markets centers and even in homes.

“Statistically, on average Malawi generates an estimated 0.5 Kgs of waste per person per day, which translates to 633 fifteen-ton vehicles of waste being produced every day,” he said.

He further bemoaned that the situation is a lot worse in major cities, citing that Lilongwe alone generates about 500 metric tons of waste.

“In cities the problem is even worse. For example, Lilongwe City alone generates about 500 metric tons of waste (33 fifteen tone Lorries) per day while Blantyre City produces about 450 tons of waste (30 fifteen tone Lorries) per day,” Chilima said.

He warned; “Given the prevailing poor waste management in the country, such statistics remain a matter of grave concern.”

He therefore appealed to the public to join hands in order to develop and clean the country.

Earlier this week President Lazarus Chakwera launched the National clean Up Day in the capital City Lilongwe as a way of ensuring that the country is clean.