Bulawayo councillors debate what to do about open ...

Bulawayo councillors debate what to do about open space defecation

Bulawayo city fathers are concerned with the health hazard posed by people waiting to be served at the passport offices as the defecate in an open space and have not yet found a solution they can agree on.

Ward 13 councilor Frank Javangwe has raised the red flag saying that the people who camp overnight are using the open space as toilets at night.

The stench and sight of fecal matter has become standard along 10th Avenue and Herbert Chitepo Street.

The councilors are split on how to resolve the problem.

Ward one Cllr Mlandu Ncube said the Registry department should do deal with it.

"The relevant government department should be encouraged to operate within the stipulated working hours. People should not be seen outside the offices after working hours are over,” he said.

People in Bulawayo and those from outside the city have resorted to sleeping on the queues outside the registry offices to ensure viable positions in the long queues.

The trend of switching to open defecation has also become common in Open defecation is not limited to Bulawayo. In Harare vagrants and homeless people defecate on streets at night.

Mr Dylord Mutamuko from Hitbay Sanitation Services who also sits as the private sector focal point for the national multi-sector stakeholder consultative forum said that the his organization recognizes the need to step forward and be a part of the solution.

“As private sector we stand ready to contribute to this challenge and are ready to engage with the respective authorities,” said Mr Mutamuko.

He said that Hitbay Sanitation Services recognizes the limited sanitation access challenge the country faces and acknowledges that addressing the challenge requires a multi-stakeholder approach where private sector also plays a significant role.

“There are ways of providing Mobile toilets that comply with existing laws, compliment Government and Local Authority efforts to provide Sanitation to the public,” Mr Mutamuko said.

A health practitioner said besides being disgusting, defecating in open spaces exposes the public diarrheal diseases like typhoid, dysentery and cholera.