Health time bomb as sewage flows in suburbs
A HEALTH hazard is looming in some of Bulawayo’s suburbs as sewage is flowing in homes and on the streets, at a time when the city has already recorded 13 deaths following a diarrhoea outbreak in Luveve and surrounding areas.
Residents are accusing Bulawayo City Council (BCC) of neglecting its duties which could result in the outbreak of water-borne diseases such cholera and typhoid. Thirteen people including two senior citizens from Entembeni Old People’s Home have died following a diarrhoea outbreak in Luveve and surrounding suburbs in May.
Government attributed the outbreak to Bulawayo’s 144-hour water shedding exercise and vandalism of sewerage pipes.
Residents who spoke to said some burst sewerage pipes have gone for over four years without being attended to.
news crew visited Makokoba, Matshobana, Mabuthweni, Entumbane and Emakhandeni and observed that some of the pipes were spewing effluent into houses.
In interviews, disgruntled residents said they are now living in fear of an outbreak of diseases, especially in the wake of Covid-19.
“We have been with this problem of sewer pipe bursts for years and even if council comes and attends to it, the following day the situation will be the same. I think BCC workers are tired of attending to this problem because when we report they take months to come,” said Mrs Joice Khumalo of Emakhandeni said.
“It is now our responsibility to clean human waste at our toilets on a daily basis. This is now our everyday life which we have now adopted for years.”