adminTemba Dube Senior Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council faces fines of up to $5,000 over the Makokoba sewers that continually discharge raw effluent into the environment endangering the lives of residents. In an interview yesterday, Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Provincial manager for Bulawayo, Decent Ndlovu, said local authorities had a mandate to protect every resident’s right to a clean environment.
“If pollution continues in Makokoba, EMA will have to take stern measures like asking the council to pay a fine. Fines range from $20 to $5 000 while repeat offenders may be taken to court for stiffer sentences.
“The Environmental Management Act [Chapter 20:27] clearly states that sewage should be removed from the people. The Makokoba issue may have been going on for some time. Council needs to solve the issue permanently. If there is a disease outbreak, fingers will be pointed in all directions. All this can be avoided by dealing with the issue now,” said Ndlovu.
He said residents also had a duty to report sewer burst to council.
“They should report sewer bursts as soon as they occur. If action is not taken, they should use the EMA toll free number 08080028 to alert the agency. We can then liaise with council to ensure a speedy solution. Council has to put its house in order. There was a similar problem in Emakhandeni and Luveve and it was solved after intervention by EMA,” he said.
He said raw sewage was a serious threat to residents’ health. “People dump everything into sewers. They dispose things like hair dyes, industrial chemicals and other dangerous substances. These things react with the sewage in the system and form even more dangerous compounds. Residents should therefore not take sewage flowing through their homes lightly. The effluent also exposes residents to waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid,” said Ndlovu.
A comment could not be obtained from the city council.
The local authority’s senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu had not responded to questions sent to her regarding the issue by the time of going to Press.
After publication of the initial story in the Chronicle, council attended to the spot the story focused on along 9th Street.
However, after the heavy rains that have been pounding the city, most problem spots in the suburb have started spewing raw sewage into the streets again.
Makokoba residents have said sewer bursts have become common in the suburb.
They said their toilets were often blocked and council often took long to respond to reports. Children are often seen playing in pools of raw effluent.
Residents said whenever they reported sewer bursts, the blockages would recur a few hours after being attended to.
The area’s councillor James Sithole said the sewer reticulation system was not meant for the big population now residing in Makokoba.
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