The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Municipal Reporter
A HEALTH time bomb is looming in Cowdray Park as more than 12 000 households have resorted to constructing Blair toilets within their properties, with some just a couple of metres from their nearest bulk water taps, this against both World Health Organisation and Bulawayo City Council health standards regulations.
The houses which fall under the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle phase two scheme, have had no running water since the section of the suburb was established in 2006.
BCC and the Bulawayo Home Seekers Consortium Trust (BHSCT), who developed the area have refused to accept responsibility for the situation, resulting in the area not being connected to the city’s water supply system.
The local authority has only begun imploring residents at the suburb to accept the controversial prepaid water meter scheme as the only means that they can be connected to the city’s water system.
Some residents, out of desperation, have dug shallow wells at their houses while others rely on water trapped in pits dug by sand poachers.
According to WHO guidelines Blair toilets should be located downhill from a water source and should not penetrate ground water.
“The toilet should not penetrate ground water and should be at least two metres above the water table, the site should be well drained and above flood level. Latrines should also be established a safe distance from the nearest water source. This is site specific and should be determined for each water source on the basis of local hydrological conditions.
“A distance of 30 metres has been suggested, it is recommended that this figure is taken as a guide to establishing a minimum distance in the absence of local information. The Blair toilet should be a minimum distance of six metres from the house, so that it is easy to reach but will also not cause problems of odour in the house,” read part of WHO guidelines.
A Sunday News crew visited the suburb last week and discovered that virtually every household has resorted to digging improvised Blair toilets — some less than the recommended two metres depth — just in front on the side of their main gates.
Some of the residents even disregard that their houses are located just next to communal taps and go on to dig the toilets, with most revealing that they were left with no choice as this move was better than practicing open air defecation.
Notably most of the houses are well built, extended from the usual four rooms that it becomes unbelievably when one is told that all these houses have never had running water or electricity since they were constructed in 2006.
Some have resorted to purchasing the 1 000 litre green water tanks, which one wonders how they fill them as the suburb’s only sources of water are three communal water taps.
Bulawayo mayor Councillor Martin Moyo confirmed the pending health hazard adding that according to council by-laws it was illegal for any resident to construct Blair toilets in the city’s residential areas.
“Blair toilets are illegal, that’s the bottom line. So what all these residents are doing is illegal and should be condemned by all means, it is unfortunate that these people do not have any sewer reticulation, something has to be done as a matter of urgency to address this illegality.
“It is not our problem nor the developer, the problem is that these houses were constructed on unserviced land hence development is taking longer than anticipated,” said Clr Moyo.
However, residents interviewed had no kind words for the local authority, saying it was neglecting them.
“The truth is we have no choice, some of us have been staying here for more than five years but no one seems to be doing anything to address our plight. Right now we are being told of prepaid water meters but nothing is being said of ablution facilities, maybe the authorities are comfortable with us practicing open air defecation.
“While we fall under Bulawayo as a city, just a tour of this suburb will show you that we are not part of Bulawayo at all. Honestly where do you find someone claiming that they stay in an urban centre, in the second largest city in the country but we don’t have water, electricity, toilets and even the roads are in a pathetic condition,” said Mrs Rose Ndlovu, a resident at the suburb.
Another resident blasted the local authority for not being serious about their plight, noting that while the developer BHSCT could be blamed, it was knownthat as the parent authority BCC should take it upon themselves to resolve the crisis.
“If anyone goes out there telling people that we are part of Bulawayo, they are misleading themselves and the rest of the country, we have tried calling on the authorities to come to our rescue but nothing is happening. To prove that we are not even part of Bulawayo, commuter bus operators end in another section of Cowdray Park where we then have to board other kombis that cost between 7 Rand and $1 just to get here, it is just pathetic,” said the resident who preferred anonymity.
Contacted for comment BCC senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu also confirmed that the construction of blair toilets was illegal but noted that council was working on addressing the anomaly by servicing the area with water reticulation, sewer and roads, segment by segment.
“Council by-laws do not allow blair toilets and open defecation as this is likely to result in contamination of underground water and environmental pollution. Sewerage reticulated system and septic tanks are the preferred methods recommended.
“Hlalani Kuhle was a Government project in response to operation Murambatsvina. Provision of shelter was the major objective; however, the settlement was not planned as houses were built without servicing the area. Council is currently working on servicing the area with water reticulation, sewer and roads, segment by segment in Cowdray Park,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She said at one point the local authority was not even aware of the number of houses at the suburb.
“The Cowdray Park Hlalani Kuhle project now consists of 12 019 residential stands, six primary school stands, four secondary school stands, two local authority sites, 15 places of assembly and six commercial centres. At the start of the project, Hlalani Kuhle built 200 houses and the rest of the stands were allocated as vacant plots. A neighbourhood commercial centre which is envisaged to be to the biggest commercial centre in Cowdray Park is also located within this area,” she said.
She, however, said the servicing of the suburb’s sewer and water reticulation was now the local authority’s major priority.
According to WHO an estimated 2,6 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. The United Nations, through the Millennium Development Goals, had set a target of halving by 2015 the proportion of the population without sustainable access to improved sanitation and to achieve this target, they had noted that approximately 1 billion people in urban areas and 900 million people in rural areas must gain access to improved sanitation by 2015 over the baseline year, 1990.
