adminRobin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Ndebele word, mpilo, means life, but the state of toilets at one of the country’s largest referral institutions, Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, points to something contrary.
About 10 metres before getting to the toilet, one is greeted with a pungent and nauseating smell emanating from the direction of the toilets. Those who coined the phrase “people of a nervous disposition should not view the following” must have had the Mpilo toilets in mind as they are not pleasing to the eye. One can hardly walk into the main toilet as urine is all over the floor and the flushing system for both the male and female toilets has not been working for months.
When our crew visited the hospital on Thursday, the female toilet entrance had human excrement which had dried up on the floor as it had not been cleaned for a number of days. An elderly woman was in the toilet assisting a child to relieve itself on a piece of tissue on the floor.
“It’s too dirty in the toilets, so I will throw the waste inside once the child is done,” the elderly woman explained.
A small bin in the toilet which has not been emptied for a while was over flowing with used pampers, tissue and sanitary wear.
One man who was coming out of the men’s toilet said it was very dirty inside but had no option.
“It is dirty but what can we do, this is all that is there for the public to use. We would appreciate if they just use even a hosepipe to just clean it up especially the urine and human waste on the floor. It is not a good sight especially inside the toilets that do not flush,” he said.
Ironically, a canteen that serves the public is less than 50 metres from the toilets.
The acting chief executive officer of the hospital, Mr Leonard Mabhandi, said he was not aware of the situation.
“I am hearing this for the first time from you. If the public has a problem with the service they have to come to us directly and we will address their problem. I cannot comment about what I do not know about,” he said.
He said he would only act on the problem after receiving an official complaint from the public. Bulawayo Urban Residents Association (Bura) Mr Winos Dube said the responsible authorities at the hospital should address the matter.
“The responsible people should ensure the toilets are clean because this is a hospital and we expect high standards of cleanliness inside and outside. If someone has complained about it that means it really is an eye sore,” he said.
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