peterHWANGE — It is exactly 5am, and Ms Sarudzai Nyathi rushes to the nearest community sanitation facility at Number One village, D section in Hwange where residents also fetch water.
She only has two hours to fetch water before the taps run dry.
The area is commonly known as “Emadamu” in the mining town.
Nyathi, now 40, has never experienced privacy when using an ablution facility in the mining town.
As many as 20 people have to share a community toilet and bathroom.
“I am now used to this life having lived in this area for over 30 years.
But one thing I don’t like about these facilities is that they can be messy,” Ms Nyathi said.
Areas where people have to share sanitation facilities include Number Two, Number Three and Cinderella residential areas previously reserved for low grade employees.
Greater Hwange Residents Trust Coordinator Mr Fidelis Chima said living conditions in those areas are poor.
“The state of ablution facilities in the concession area of Hwange Colliery is colonial and dehumanising.
The facilities are not conducive in this area.
In places like Number Three village and Number Two village, more than 50 or more families share a single ablution facility because the majority of the ablutions are dysfunctional.
This at the end of the day becomes a health hazard, especially in those areas where there are perennial water challenges.”
Although the Hwange Colliery Company expanded the A section and part of B section in Number One village through the establishment of inbuilt toilets, the majority of residents in the concession area still use common ablutions.
Hwange Central Constituency MP Daniel Molokele said it did not make sense that communities in the town lived in such deplorable conditions, yet they were residents of a natural resource rich area.
“Each household in Hwange should have its bathroom and toilet system.
I am very clear that this has to be phased out to create a better and well developed Hwange community.” (Source: The CBNews)
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter