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Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has moved the district registry offices from Nketa Primary School over constant toilet blockages caused by hordes of adults coming to acquire national identity particulars. The school complained that its ablution facilities were constantly breaking down due to over usage by more than 300 adults using them every day.
According to the latest council report the offices were moved to Nketa Housing Office after the school wrote a letter to the Director of Health Services Dr Zanele Hwalima complaining over the health hazard posed by the broken down toilets.
“The pupils of the school face challenges on the use of toilets. They share the toilets with the general public. On a daily basis, over 300 adults visit the school for their national identification and birth certificate registration and these adults use the pupils’ toilets to relieve themselves and this was of great concern,” Dr Hwalima said.
She told councillors that the flushing system at the school broke down more often than was expected due to over usage. She told councillors that workshop personnel from Mzilikazi had also raised a concern over the issue.
“To minimise on the health hazard threats, the school uses its single groundsman to clean the toilets at least thrice a day. This has proved to be very costly as the groundsman spent more time cleaning the pupils’ toilets to the detriment of other duties that should be carried out in the school. Furthermore, pupils had been exposed to unpleasant things from time to time in the toilets,” Dr Hwalima said.
“Repairs for the flush systems continued to escalate. The school also feared for the security of the pupils in the toilets as it had no means of monitoring the people who visited these toilets. However, it was pertinent to mention that to date the school hadn’t experienced any child disappearance although the issue of security was of paramount importance”.
The school’s enrolment stood at 1,283 and the school toilets totalled 32 holes which translated to one hole to 40 pupils. Dr Hwalima said the school had raised concern over the shortage of classrooms and the classrooms housing the registry offices were sorely needed by pupils.
Among the alternatives offered to alleviate the situation were the revival of public toilets at the Nketa 6 terminus as it was not far from the school, provide one more groundsman for cleaning toilets at least every two hours.
Nketa Primary School has been used as a National Identification Registration centre since April 2005 and equipment to carry out this exercise was fitted in one of the classrooms. The school also suggested the registration centre could be moved to Nketa Housing Office.
In response the director of housing and community services Isaiah Magagula explained that the problem started when council agreed to have Nketa Primary School used as a registration centre. Acting town clerk Sikhangele Zhou said it was not cost effective to provide council security guards to man the toilets.
The council thereafter resolved to recommend that the national identification registration be moved from Nketa Primary School to Nketa Housing Office and the public toilets at the terminus be resuscitated.
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