adminBefore these so-called political changes (the emergence of MDC-T to run councils), these problems we are now facing were unheard of. I hated to be near garbage but nowadays I have no choice as I live with the dirt daily.
“People dump their garbage everywhere and we have learnt to live with it,” said Gogo MaKhumalo, pointing at a heap of uncollected refuse about 10 metres from her house.
She said children play in the raw sewage and dumpsites, risking contracting waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea.
Heaps of uncollected garbage have become common in almost all suburbs of Bulawayo. Residents have resorted to dumping garbage in undesignated areas because council is not collecting refuse regularly as is supposed to be the case. The council, despite collecting revenue from the ratepayers for refuse, water and sewer reticulation and other such services, has been found wanting when it comes to service delivery.
Mr Jonah Nyathi, an elderly man from Makokoba who stays near Vundu Flats close to stinky Mazai River said he has lived with raw sewage and mounds of garbage at his doorstep for the past decade.
“Life has become unbearable for us for over a decade. We are now used to living under such an environment because we have no option. What has worsened the situation is that people have resorted to using the bush to relieve themselves because of erratic water supplies,” he said.
Bulawayo Residents Association’s Mr Winos Dube said the issue of the city council’s failure to collect waste combined with water shedding is posing a health hazard and is now cause for concern. He said that the city council which was supposed to collect refuse at least twice a week, was at times going for two months without collecting the garbage.
Mr Dube said if the city council does not have adequate trucks as it claims, it should contract out the collection of refuse.
“City council is failing to collect refuse regularly and it is posing a serious health hazard worsened by water shortage. Two weeks back we had a meeting with the council and as residents we suggested that each suburb should find a focal point where residents can dump garbage to be collected later by council,” said Mr Dube.
Urban local authorities, many of which are led by MDC-T councillors are accused of leaving the situation to deteriorate in most towns and cities but surprisingly party officials are refusing to accept blame.
MDC-T’s provincial chairman for Bulawayo, Mr Gorden Moyo recently blamed the Government and Zanu-PF for his party’s failure to manage towns and cities.
“We blame Zanu-PF and the Government for Bulawayo’s water woes and de-industrialisation among other poor service delivery problems that are affecting the region. We want money from Chiadzwa diamonds to be poured into the region to improve Bulawayo’s service delivery and re-industrialisation,” said Mr Moyo.
A Bulawayo City Council worker who refused to be named for fear of victimisation said the council was not addressing problems facing residents because councillors were busy pursuing their political careers.
The worker said instead of addressing challenges facing residents such as water shortage, the councillors were instead politicising the issue.
“Councillors are buying themselves and senior officials expensive cars at the expense of service delivery. There is a need to cut down on the benefits of senior council officials and root out corrupt officials so that the money saved could be used to improve service delivery. The MDC -T councillors are trying to gain political mileage by blaming Zanu-PF for the problems facing the people instead of addressing the problems,” he said.
Most MDC-T led councils have been dogged by problems ranging from poor billing systems, virtually non-existent waste management, scandalous tender procedures and failure to supply adequate safe and clean water to residents.
An academic and a researcher with the University of Zimbabwe’s Urban and Rural Development Planning Department, Mr Obert Nyakabawo, said there was a need for local authorities to come up with innovative waste and water management strategies instead of blaming central Government and other political parties for their own maladministration.
“Local authorities should be innovative in coming up with proper waste management and ensure long-term water supply projects than politicising and blaming the central government for their failures,” said Nyakabawo.
“Under the difficulties that we are facing now in cities, the local authorities have to be innovative in dealing with the water and waste management crises. Bulawayo council for example must drill more boreholes in protected sites that are safe from any form of contamination and at the same time speed up the completion of long-term projects like Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline and the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project,” he added.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu