Hwange residents appeal to Government

HWANGE residents are appealing to the Government to intervene by addressing the prevailing water challenges in the coal mining town where cholera cases continue to rise.

Cholera cases in Hwange, Matabeleland North have risen to 183 within two weeks as of Friday last week the town had recorded 35 suspected new cases.

A lack of potable water, use of public communal toilets by residents and a general lack of cleanliness have been identified as key drivers of cholera in Hwange.

The government has since called for the collaboration of all stakeholders to partner with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to mobilise resources to contain the outbreak as cases continue to spike.

Authorities in Hwange have responded by clearing vendors from the streets. However, the issue of sharing toilets and lack of running water remains an issue of concern as most suburbs in the Hwange Colliery Company concession areas such as Number 2, Number 3 and parts of Number 1 use the bucket system to flush toilets.

Residents are concerned that if they continue without water the whole town might be plunged into a health disaster.

They want the Government to direct local authorities in the concession areas, which include Hwange Colliery Company, National Railways of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Power Company to act.

Greater Whange Residents Association programmes officer Ms Sithembinkosi Ndlovu, who also chairs the Women Coalition of Zimbabwe Hwange chapter, said women and girls are the worst affected because of the lack of privacy and clean water for hygiene purposes.

“Hwange has perennial water problems and it is rationed which affects the community, especially women. Sometimes water supplies are restored for a few hours and with the current situation people resort to bush toilets to relieve themselves,” she said.

“In Cinderella, Number 2 and 3 concession areas there is a looming disaster because they use public toilets. Some toilets are not properly cleaned and this is why cholera spreads like wildfire. As a community we are scared and we don’t even know if we are safe especially after some people have died.”

Hwange gets a bulk of its water from the Zambezi River through the Deka pipe and the water reticulation system is now old and constantly breaks down.

In the Railways section, residents rely on a borehole drilled by the Roman Catholic Church. Residents sometimes fetch water from small contaminated streams that flow from burst pipes and coal mine sites.

Ms Ndlovu said authorities once fumigated the toilets when the outbreak was declared in Hwange and they have since stopped.

The public toilet at the bus rank is cleaned once in the morning and uses the bucket system while the one at Lwendulu Hall is rarely cleaned although it remains in use. Another public toilet near Number 1 Old Grounds was turned into a pay toilet.

“Lately the water that comes out of taps is dirty and residents end up fetching from small streams which are not safe thus further exposing people to diseases. We recently had serious cases of diarrhoea in Makwika village in Number 3 where several children had running stomachs,” said Ms Ndlovu.

“Our appeal is for the Government to intervene and for the local authority to cut on the water-shedding hours.”

Hwange district health officials have said there is a surge in diarrhoea cases across the district. The government has since activated disaster response teams in Hwange and also set up cholera treatment centres. Councillor for Ward 10 under the Hwange Local Board, Cllr Samuel Barakki Tshuma said residents want authorities to use bowsers and Jojo tanks to ensure a constant supply of water.

“The major challenge is lack of ablution facilities as people share public toilets which have no water. This affects prevention measures and we are appealing to authorities to help us with disinfectants to ensure that our residents are safe,” he said.

“Residents are requesting that Jojo tanks be put in the ward so that there is water. Drainage pipes are also blocked and pipes bursts continuously. We are not getting a proper explanation from the authority in the concession area yet the town has been hit by cholera.”

Cllr Barakki commended the Ministry of Health and Child Care for opening a cholera centre at Cinderella Clinic, saying it has brought services closer to people.