The Sunday News
Nokukhanya Moyo/ Nozibelo Maphosa, Sunday News Reporters
LUVEVE residents in Bulawayo have been sitting on a health bomb for sometime as the Bulawayo City Council is reportedly failing to repair a burst sewer pipe in the suburb.
Residents who spoke to the Sunday News yesterday said said they have been subjected to flowing raw sewage for more than three weeks.
Residents said they had grown tired of reporting the problem to the council as the officials were not attending to the issue.
One of the affected residents, Mr Wilfred Manyathela said, “We reported the sewer problem the first day it burst but nothing has been done by the city council, we even reported this issue to the councillor when we realised that there was no action being taken but it is like our problem is not being understood. We do not know who to engage now.”
Another resident said residents no longer saw anything amiss with burst sewer pipes.
“It is only visitors who are bothered by the smell. We are now used to it. The only thing we are afraid of is an outbreak of diseases. If cholera or typhoid breaks out in this suburb, the only way to contain and treat it may be to evacuate the whole suburb and treat residents at a fixed secluded location,” he said.
He said toilets are now blocked.
“Our children play on the streets and we fear that they will come into contact with the sewage. We cannot keep them indoors all the time. We only pray that they do not fall sick. We are also worried that nowadays council does not put that white substance on the flowing dirty water, which I think is a chemical that neutralises germs,” he said.
A youth, Musa Ndlovu, said he thought the sewer reticulation system had collapsed in the suburb.
“The situation has been like this for as long as I can remember. No matter how many times they fix it, the sewage keeps flowing in the streets and the toilets are always blocked. I think the entire system has collapsed and needs an overhaul,” said Ndlovu.
Another resident said, “The problem is that the sewer system is now too old. Luveve is one of the oldest suburbs in Bulawayo.”
He said water shedding was not helping matters as people used the toilets when there was no water and when it became available, it would not have enough pressure to push the waste through the system, resulting in chokes.
