A RECENT spike in disease outbreaks in Bulawayo has been linked to rampant sewer bursts that have seen residents being accustomed to raw sewage flowing close to or through their homes.
The concerns over the outbreaks were revealed in the latest Bulawayo City Council (BCC) sewerage section report, with Pumula’s ward 17 councillor Sikhululekile Moyo saying the sewer bursts and sewage overflows remain a challenge in Zimbabwe’s second largest city.
According to the latest council report, Moyo cited her ward, where there have been a lot of sewer bursts and sewage overflows, which resulted in a disease outbreak in the area.
“Most residents complained of diarrhoea and other related health challenges,” the report said.
“She called on council to implement relevant strategies and improve resource allocation in dealing with this diarrhoea outbreak.”
Other councillors also raised concern about sewer bursts and sewage overflows near boreholes.
Indications were that most residents in the city relied on borehole water for domestic use.
“Some residents drink borehole water although council continues to advise that the water is not suitable for drinking,” the report said.
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The report further indicated that councillor Adrian Moyo noted the challenges experienced in communication, adding that the current system did not provide feedback on progress and the challenges faced in attending to faults.
He proposed that a computer dashboard be established.
“The computer dashboard will indicate reports received, their progress and any challenges experienced. The dashboard will allow councillors to monitor feedback,” he said.
According to the report, councillor Tinevimbo Maposa referred to a previously made proposal to decentralise services.
He said more teams should be established to deal with sewage challenges.
“A report was made by a blind resident who had sewage overflowing into their house,” Maposa said.
“The sewage had not been attended to.
“The water and sanitation department should be allocated more service delivery vehicles.”
The report also indicated that once plumbing teams get to an area, they should attend to all sewage overflows, even those that will not have been reported.
Councillor Shepherd Sithole highlighted the transport challenges raised by plumbers, adding that sewer bursts and sewage overflows had increased in the city.
Deputy mayor Edwin Ndlovu said community plumbers’ contracts should be renewed, especially during this time to reduce sewer bursts and sewage overflows in the city.
Mayor David Coltart supported the establishment of a fault reporting dashboard.
“It is prudent for weekly reports to be generated,” he said.
“An assessment and evaluation will be done once these reports are submitted. It is important to have call centre data.
“Council has enough plumbers. The major challenge is vehicles/transport and this cuts across all departments.”
