admin
Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A HEALTH threat has emerged at the Plumtree Border Post bus rank as the facility does not have proper ablution facilities.
In a recent visit to the bus rank, a Chronicle news crew discovered that the pay toilet which was constructed by council in the area has not been operational for a while. Plumtree Town Council cleaners operating from the bus rank lamented the filth which they said they were exposed to on a daily basis.
A cleaner who preferred anonymity revealed that hordes of people who comprised vendors operating from the bus rank and travellers used the bushy area to relieve themselves.
“What we endure on a daily basis as we clean the bus rank is unbearable. Each morning buses ferrying people to Botswana converge at the bus rank around 2am way before the border opens up.
“These people just move to a field which is by the roadside and that is where they relieve themselves. Each morning we are forced to clear used sanitary wear which will be dumped close to the road,” said a cleaner.
He said they had not been equipped with proper cleaning material for carrying out this filthy job despite making several appeals to council.
“We have not been given proper cleaning material. The only protective clothing we have are gloves. We do not have protective masks and we have resorted to making our own substandard tools. We have repeatedly appealed to the town council for working tools such as racks but to no avail. Working under such conditions puts us at risk of contracting diseases,” he said.
A vendor, Mrs Ivy Moyo said the bus rank had become an unhygienic area for handling food. She said the area did not have clean drinking water, forcing them to use toilet water for preparing their food.
“The situation is really bad because we are now operating from a filthy environment. We cook food which we ourselves eat and then sell to people from this place and we fear that once there is a cholera outbreak we will all become victims. Most of the people who operate from the bus rank such as drivers and vendors use the nearby bush because in most instances the toilets would be locked,” said Mrs Moyo.
Clearing agents who work close to the bus rank also raised concern over the stench.
Plumtree Town Council Secretary, Mr Davis Dumezweni Luthe said he was not aware that the toilet at the bus rank was not operating. “We realised that there was a concern over ablution facilities at the bus rank hence we constructed a pay toilet but I was not aware that it has been closed.
We have a project in place of enclosing the bus rank to ensure that travellers do not mess the area in which people work from,” he said.
Online Reporter