Endless sewage woes rile Chitungwiza residents

CHITUNGWIZA residents are up in arms with council over continuous sewage streams that flow through most areas.

Residents and their associations feel short-changed by council.

In an interview with The Herald last week, Chitungwiza Residents Trust (Chitrest) director Mrs Alice Kuvheya said action has to be taken to avoid loss of lives.

“We are concerned about the continuous sewer pipe outburst, because this is a ticking time bomb, a serious health hazard to us. I suggest the central Government must take action now before we lose more lives. They have tried to repair the pipes, but it’s not working. We need complete new sewer pipes. Residents have tripled and the old pipes can’t sustain it,” she said.

Chitungwiza residents said they are worried that the continuous sewer problems will cause diseases if nothing is done to address the challenge.

“We have been experiencing sewer pipe bursts for some time now. Our children play in the sewage and it’s sometimes hard to monitor them. When we send them to pick plastics for making fires to cook, they sometimes pick them from the flowing sewage. If the sewer blockages are not dealt with, people in the whole neighbourhood might fall sick. The sewer flow into our homes. There are sudden deaths happening here in Chitungwiza and we are suspecting this sewer problem.

“The rainy season is fast approaching and the sewage is going to be carried further by the rains, while cars splash pedestrians with it whenever motorists drive over it. We pay rates to the City Council every month and don’t expect to be dealing with these continuous bursts that go unattended for so long,” a resident said.

Community Working Group on Health director Mr Itai Rusike said the continuous sewer pipe bursts, blockages, intermittent water cuts and irregular rubbish collection services are all key drivers of the outbreak of typhoid and cholera in Chitungwiza.

“The sewer pipes, which were laid during the colonial era, are old and always leakages resulting in the sewage mixing with treated drinking water. The Chitungwiza Town Council needs to develop a sustainable strategy to fix the perennial challenge of burst sewer pipes, the strategy must be backed by a sufficient budget and this should also be supported by the central government and the corporate world operating in the dormitory town,” he said.

“The Town Council has to regularly collect garbage and quick fixation of burst sewer pipes to avoid spillages into water bodies that supply drinking water to residents.

“The persistent and recurrent outbreaks of cholera and typhoid fever in Chitungwiza is a poor reflection of the water and sanitation infrastructure.”