The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
CABINET has approved the implementation of Eaziflush Sanitation Technology for Waste Management in Peri-urban and Rural Communities, an innovative system that is meant to lead to the eradication of open pit latrines in the country’s rural areas.
The programme, which Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, said may be funded through the Schools Development Associations, the Constituency Development Fund, Devolution Funds or donor participation, is an innovation that seeks to improve hygiene practices and end open defecation in peri-urban and rural communities.
“Government wishes to get rid of open pit latrines, implement alternative innovations suitable for transforming rural communities with respect to the provision of clean water and improved sanitation. Government is taking a deliberate position to provide modern, sustainable, and affordable infrastructure in both urban and rural communities. It is highlighted that Vision 2030 speaks to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 6 which seeks to ‘Ensure availability and Sustainability of the Management of Water and Sanitation for all’,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said the technology, which uses two litres of water per flush, compared to the seven to nine litres used by the conventional system, will convert the existing pit latrine infrastructure and reduce construction costs for new ablution facilities by up to 80 percent.
“Cabinet acknowledges that the adoption and implementation of the Eaziflush Sanitation Technology will go a long way in reducing the transmission of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera, which result from lack of adequate sanitation facilities. The project will be implemented in phases beginning with rural schools and clinics. It will then be cascaded to homesteads once the concept has been demonstrated and popularised. Presently, the technology is already installed and being piloted at Glenwood Primary School in Epworth and has proved to be effective, functional and user-friendly in terms of applicability and cost,” she said.
