Raw sewage is flowing inside houses and business premises in some parts of Glen View 3 in Harare, sending residents into panic mode amid fresh fears of water borne disease outbreaks.
The area has seen cholera and typhoid outbreaks that have
claimed lives over the past years due to a poor sewer reticulation system that
has been getting less attention from Harare City Council. The hit area this
time is along First Drive opposite Glen View 1 High School. The area also
surrounds Munyarari shops.
Some of the affected residents yesterday said several
attempts to have the sewer bursts attended by council officials have been
fruitless. There is a sewer pipe which
burst a few weeks ago. The local municipality was contacted and they had not
attended to the problem for close to two weeks.
“The sewage is now
flowing inside houses since the reticulation system is blocked. Council’s snail
pace is despite the fact that Glen View has been the epicentre of the 2018
cholera outbreak,” said Mr Taurai Chimusoko.
Another resident only identified as Mai Tino blamed the
council officials for dragging their feet in attending to the sewer bursts.
“Our lives are in great danger due to these insensitive
officials. We approached them two weeks ago, but to no avail,” she said.
Despite two weeks of inaction, Harare City Council
corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme yesterday still insisted
the council were attending to the problem.
“We received the
report of that issue and a team has been sent to attend to it. We encourage all
residents to report any burst for quick response,” he said.
Contrary to Mr Chideme’s remarks city officials at Glen
View administration offices said they were unable to attend to sewer bursts due
to lack of the required equipment.
“We cannot attend to
the bursts because we do not have the rods for sewer chokes. The one set of
rods we have has been sent to Mufakose,’’ said a council official who pleaded
for anonymity. A quick search yesterday showed that a complete new set of rods
cost less than US$50.
A visit at the site also showed that at Munyarari shops
there was a rivulet of raw sewage flowing while some vendors were seen selling
all manner of products including vegetables and chicken cuts next to uncovered
human waste. The sewage was also observed flowing at Glen View 3 High School,
thereby exposing both learners and authorities to disease outbreaks. Images
have since gone viral on social media of blocked toilets with sewage flowing
inside houses, streets and wells where people fetch drinking water due to
erratic supplies.
In one of the pictures children could be seen playing in
the sewage. Herald
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