New solutions to Zima��s waste disposal problems

Bruce Ndlovu
Sometimes if one ignores a problem, it disappears. But ignoring open defecation is never a good idea.

Open defecation usually happens when ablution facilities have been left to dilapidate. When this happens, faecal matter finds its way to water sources then you get faecally-contaminated water.

Attempts are under way to improve public health but to the layman, reference to bio-enzyme products as a possible solution to the solid waste that floods streets, clogged toilets at home, work and public facilities would probably be met with blank stares.

But when explained, bio-enzyme cleaners are the future for home and public health.

That is because, ever since the first pipes were laid and the first drains dug, waste disposal has always been the responsibility of local authorities countrywide.

Ita��s not a secret that big cities like Harare and Bulawayo are faced with dirt. Not just dirt, but residents can be seen turning up their noses at the pervasive smell from burst sewer pipes or when they come across untreated raw sewage.

a�?People expect the city councils to clean up after them but what they dona��t know is that they could take responsibility,a�? said Xolani Botha from Prestige Paints, a company that trades in bio-enzyme detergents.

It could take a bus for a disease to arrive in Bulawayo but when there is a national culture of cleanliness at a low cost there could be minimal cases of water-borne diseases.

There is a mentality that the buck stops with authorities, but they also have not been shy to point out residentsa�� complicity in some of these spills of solid waste that pose a serious health hazard.

Botha believes this is the wrong way to approach a national crisis.

a�?People still want to see council workers working on blocked drains or pipes with their big machines but that is cumbersome because there are easier chemical solutions that are less labour and cost intensive,a�? he said.

a�?From restaurantsa�� cooking oils to the dishwashers that people use, all that waste ends with the council but we are saying people could be getting rid of that waste from home by using the right products,a�? he added.

He added that the products were not only geared towards the urban populace, as they had the potential to even help with sanitising ablution facilities in the rural areas as well.

a�?From business to homes these products give back the responsibility of conserving the environment back to individual people. They can even help with Blair toilets which dona��t flush because they reduce the level of waste once theya��re applied. Once applied the smell of the waste also disappears,a�? he said.

The biggest problemA� is the lack of awareness by people on how their own activities have an adverse effect on the environment.

a�?As long as people dona��t care about their environment and believe that these things are someone elsea��s problem then we will always have a problem. There is a lack of awareness about the products and the main challenge that we face is on how to educate people on them,a�? he said.

So far, some schools and other public institutions have bought into the idea of bio-enzyme cleaners.