THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has budgeted US$187 000 to eliminate the shared toilet system in Emabuthweni and Iminyela suburbs.
Ward 9 councillor, Donaldson Mabutho revealed this in an interview with the Southern Eye.
“We came up with the Emabuthweni-Iminyela Redevelopment Strategy which has a US$187 000 budget. However, we don’t have that kind of money as yet but the budget has been allocated so that we can try and redevelop Emabuthweni and Iminyela. We are mainly focused on the toilets, so that each and every family can have its own toilet,” Mabutho said.
The former deputy mayor said Emabuthweni residents bought a brick moulding machine during the tenure of their previous councillor, adding that he was following up on the equipment. He said the community would use the machine to mould bricks to build the toilets.
“This project aims to improve living conditions in one of the city’s oldest suburbs, where residents currently face health risks due to a lack of proper sanitation facilities. The action comes as a response to residents’ concerns,” he said.
Residents had of late expressed concern over possible water-borne diseases outbreaks in the suburb.
One resident, Martha Moyo said: “We are living in fear of outbreaks of diseases such as cholera. Can you imagine one toilet being shared by four families? We understand that the city is faced with water problems, but the worst thing now is we have to travel quite a distance to collect toilet water from an abandoned pit just to flash.”
Pamela Maphosa concurred saying the toilets issue had affected them for far too long.
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“Can you imagine families with six people multiplied by four, which means that 24 people share one toilet? What worries us most is that the toilets can’t be locked or monitored, meaning even a passer-by can use them and chances of leaving them dirty since there is no water are very high,” Maphosa said.
