HARARE City Council workers are exposed to dangerous
chemicals at the local authority’s waterworks where they are forced to perform
their duties without protective clothing.
The grave situation was revealed during last week’s tour of
the Morton Jaffray water treatment plant by senators, who were told that
council was failing to buy protective clothing because of budgetary
constraints.
Senators observed the workers offloading chemicals from a
truck without any protective clothing.
Edias Nyanguwo, the Morton Jaffray superintendent, said
they had not received any funding to buy protective clothing for staff despite
making requests as far back as last year.
“We ordered safety equipment and clothing last year,” he
said. “We need respirator cartridges for the workers, but we have a challenge
due to budgetary issues.”
A respirator cartridge or canister is a container that
clears air pollution and it is recommended that employees working in a polluted
area use respirators.
Council officials said the situation at the 66-year-old
Morton Jaffray waterworks had become dire.
“There are chemicals we store here like activated carbon,
that black one, it removes the smell from the water,” Nyanguwo said.
According to research, the side effects of taking activated
charcoal include constipation and black faeces.
More serious, but rare, side effects are a slowing or
blockage of the intestinal tract, regurgitation into the lungs, and dehydration
and without face masks the workers are left exposed.
Another potentially harmful chemical that the workers
handle is aluminium sulphate.
Although aluminium sulphate does not cause cancer,
according to research, it is a skin and eye irritant and all who work with it
should wear gloves and eye protection.
If ingested in some way, the chemical is “mildly
hazardous”. The workers at the plant said morale was low because of
lack of protective clothing and poor salaries.
Council officials said the local authority was struggling
because the government was yet to approve its budget for this year.
The local authority said it was still charging rates that
were pegged in 2018 where ratepayers are paying an equivalent of US$1 a month
in high-density areas for water and about US$3 a in low-density suburbs.
Council collects $12 million to 15 million a month in
revenue, but needs $14 million to pay for water treatment chemicals alone.
The local authority owes its sole water treatment chemicals
supplier, Chemplex, more than $78 million. Standard
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