Hwange RDC to make pit latrines mandatory

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
HWANGE Rural District Council (HRDC) is working on a by-law that will make it mandatory for all homesteads in its area of jurisdiction to have at least a pit latrine in an effort to reduce open defecation and achieve total sanitation.

A Chidobe Ward Community (Chidocom)-led Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project committee was formed in 2019 to pilot construction of pit latrines for all homesteads that have none.

About 600 toilets were built in 2019 while more than 100 are being built.

Each homestead which has dug a pit is given five bags of cement for construction of a toilet and the family has to mobilise other materials like sand and bricks.

Speaking during hand over of 600 bags of cement donated by Rotary Club of Victoria Falls to Chidobe villagers yesterday, HRDC chief executive Mr Phindile Ncube said Government’s thrust is that sanitation should be demand led in line with United Nations Sustainable Goal Number 6 which states that “water and sanitation for all by 2030, leaving no-one behind”.

“WASH is one of the pillars of local authorities’ new programme based budgeting blueprint and we endeavour to achieve as much defecation free villages as we can so that we achieve total sanitation.

“It is also Government vision to provide piped water to rural communities. Therefore council is working on introducing by-laws and policies that seek to promote these visions. We are currently working on a by-law that will make it mandatory for all new homesteads to first construct a latrine or toilet before they are confirmed as having been officially allocated land for the development of their homesteads,” said Mr Ncube.

He commended various organisations that have partnered local authorities and Government in implementing WASH programmes, adding that Chidobe ward sanitation coverage has risen from 32 percent in 2019 to 72 percent this year.

Sanitation coverage in the district is 35 percent while access to safe water is 68 percent.

Chidobe ward covers Chidobe, Dibutibu, Jembwe, Monde, Ntabayengwe and Sizinda areas.

Unicef has also been funding rural Wash programmes in Zimbabwe including Hwange for the past 10 years.

Mr Ncube said the 598 blair ventilated improved pit latrines built by Chidocom since 2019 was milestone achievement in Hwange’s WASH programmes.

Chidocom chairman Mr Douglas Musiringofa said a research carried out in 2019 showed that there were 1 461 homesteads in Chidobe ward and only 461 of them had toilets while the rest used bush for defecation thereby exposing people and animals to waterborne diseases.

“Our research showed that each homestead needs five bags of cement to be able to build a decent toilet. We are working with various organisations that and wish we as a community could embrace this,” he said.

Mrs Florence Muleya-Phiri, one of the beneficiaries said her homestead had no toilet for more than five years.

“I didn’t have material but now I can start construction. I am happy that I and my six children can now have a decent toilet,” she said.
Another beneficiary Mr Farai Gwekwerere said: “I started constructing my homestead three years ago and this cement is boost because I will immediately build the toilet since I had already dug the pit. I stopped working because of Covid-19 hence I wouldn’t buy any material.”-@ncubeleon