The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Sunday News
NKAYI District which previously held the title of having the least number of toilets in Matabeleland North has scaled up the ladder to number two following intervention by the Government and other stakeholders in providing material for construction of toilets.
Nkayi North Member of the National Assembly Cde Sithembiso Nyoni told journalists during a tour of the district last week that they had improved significantly.
“Nkayi was the last in rankings of places with the least toilets in the province but now we have improved greatly to second position and almost all homes now have toilets,” she said.
She said previously there was rampant open defecation which was affecting the health status of the communities.
“People were practicing open defecation and this was causing health challenges like diarrhoea. People would defecate in the open and when rains fell the waste was all being channeled in to water bodies that humans later drank from so people were falling ill all the time,” she said.
Cde Nyoni said livestock also used the same water bodies that human beings use as there are water shortages in the area.
Councillor for Ward 3, Clr Davis Mbiba whose area has all homes with toilets said the community realised that the Government was using a lot of resources in treating diarrhoeal diseases caused by open defecation which prompted them to change their way of life.
“We saw that the district was using a lot of money on health that could have been managed by being hygienic and we decided to construct toilets and stop open defecation. Now in this ward all villagers have toilets. The Government assisted us initially with one bag of cement and we provided other resources and today we are enjoying a clean environment,” he said.
Clr Mbida said since the toilets were constructed they have not reported any illnesses caused by open defecation.
According to the 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) more than 34 percent of the people in Zimbabwe still lack access to improved sources of drinking water. The MICS further noted that the country was still way off track to meet the sanitation target, with 38 percent of the people still lacking access to improved sanitation, and 32 percent of the people practicing open defecation.
The report also says it was important that Zimbabwe have an ambition of achieving universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene and specifically aim to eliminate open defecation, halving the proportion of the population without access at home to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services and progressively eliminate inequalities in access to quality services by 2030.
