Online Reporter
HARARE City Council acknowledges that there is a crisis with regards a shortage of public toilets in a congested central business district.
As reported elsewhere in this edition, the head of corporate communications for the City of Harare, acknowledged the issue, stating that a resolution has been passed to increase the number of public toilets.
“The serious shortage of public toilets and the issue of street kids defacing public spaces have been noted with concern.
“The call for more public toilets in Harare’s CBD is urgent. Addressing this issue could significantly improve public health and safety for all residents, particularly vulnerable groups like street kids,” he said.
There were no further details on how they intend to increase the number of public toilets given the nightmare of the infrastructure development aspect of town planning.
The filth in Harare’s CBD has been blamed on the high numbers of people operating from the streets and these include illegal vendors, street dealers and public transport operators -both legal and illegal.
The shortage of public toilets in Harare’s CBD is more than just a health hazard and the Harare City Council must take urgent and deliberate steps to restore dignity and public hygiene in the by addressing this growing crisis as assured by the publicity department.
Attention will need to be given to the busiest areas first and, as such, council ought to prioritize the construction and rehabilitation of public toilets in strategic, high-traffic areas such as Copacabana, Market Square, and major shopping corridors especially now that there are these small shops being created at every corner of the CBD.
Ideally, these facilities should be safe, well-maintained, and accessible to all, including people with disabilities.
But given the challenge of resources that bedevils the local authority, one easy way to navigate the problem is a public-private partnership model where Harare can even lease management rights to private players in exchange for maintenance, while the City sets fair usage guidelines to ensure affordability and cleanliness.
Overall, the planning and related efforts to address the challenge of sanitation in the CBD must also consider the underlying realities of the growing informal population—illegal vendors and street children—who often lack access to such facilities and contribute to the overuse of the few that exist.
Actually a number of the toilets in the CBD have either been closed or forced to introduce gate charges to try and contain these people. However, going forward, Harare City Council should not treat these groups as obstacles which should be kicked out by force, but as part of the urban landscape requiring integrated solutions.
Some of the ways to attend to the challenge they pose, council ought to create or add designated vending zones equipped with nearby sanitary facilities. This will help decongest pavements while offering vendors basic amenities.
Mathew Masinge