MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-A team led by Dr. Smelly Dube, the Chief executive officer of River Valley Group of Companies had a shock of their lives as they came face to face with more than they had bargained for when they found out there are families using the bucket system in the Midlands capital.
The high-density suburb was developed by River Valley Properties, who had initiated a clean-up campaign to encourage residents to maintain cleanliness and support the government’s efforts in promoting smart cities.
Shockingly, it was discovered that four families living in one of the houses in Phase 2, had no water connection or proper ablution facilities, resulting in them excreting in buckets inside the house.
During the clean up exercise three of the buckets were found filled with fresh stool.
Fortunately, no cholera outbreaks have been recorded in the area according to recent council report.
But a health time bomb is simmering at the surface and is waiting to explode, if residents continue relieving themselves in buckets and dispose off the waste along roadsides, which can attract water borne diseases.
This incident has also raised questions about the effectiveness of the council’s inspection system.
According to urban town planning by laws, individuals are only allowed to occupy houses after receiving a “certificate of occupation” from the responsible local authority.
Speaking during the clean-up campaign, Dr. Dube expressed shock that some residents are occupying their houses without proper sanitation facilities and are using bucket system.
“When we got the permit to develop this area, we were explicitly told that no construction should begin before water and sewer connection were made to houses. But to my surprise, these houses have been completed without ablution facilities, and people are resorting to the bucket system, disposing off waste near other residents’ homesteads who had followed the proper procedures.”
“It’s quite disheartening and I had communicated this to the responsible local authorities both City of Gweru and Vungu Rural District council to come-on the ground and see for themselves as they are the ones who are collecting bills for water and rates,” she said.
Cornelia Selipiwe, the Executive Director of the Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA), urged the “local authorities to intervene and put an end to open defecation”.
He emphasized that the bucket system was unacceptable in the city of progress, and warned of the risk of cholera and typhoid outbreaks if the situation was not addressed promptly.
Responding to the matter, Gweru City Council spokesperson, Vimbai Chingwaramusee told The Midweek Watch that “Woodlands is Vungu. Its their jurisdiction. We are trying to incorporate the area into Gweru and only providing services on humanitarian basis”.
Vungu RDC Chief Executive Officer Alex Magura, admitted that his council lacked the capacity to handle the situation and called on Gweru City Council to intervene since they “were responsible for providing water and sewer services”.
He noted that the local authority had only conducted inspections for a few houses three years ago, while the planning and overall inspection process had been carried out by the City of Gweru since the project’s inception.
Meanwhile, Dr Dube paid tribute to residents who participated in the clean up campaign aimed at educating residents to practice hygiene and to stop dumping litter in undesignated areas.
“We have seen that residents are dumping garbage everywhere thereby polluting the environment and clogging the drainage system which result in flooding of our roads network during the rainy season.
Hence we are encouraging one another to be more responsible and know where to put the litter and I’m grateful that people came in their numbers for this exercise,” said Dr. Dube.
