A BULAWAYO-BASED organisation supporting persons with disabilities (PWDs) has called for urgent intervention by authorities following the flooding of its premises with raw sewage for weeks.
The sewage, according to the organisation, is posing a health hazard to people who visit the premises.
The National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) said some of its members on wheelchairs sometimes get in contact with the flowing waste.
NCDPZ director Lizzie Longshaw told Southern Eye this week that while they were making efforts to cover the sewage with sand, that could not be done on a daily basis.
“We will be trying very hard to sort of cover it with sand, but who carries the sand because most people are disabled? Our main challenge is that when they burst, it’s a daily thing,” Longshaw said.
“Whether they work on them, the following day it will be like a small river. Everything will just be flowing. Some of us use crutches, some wheelchairs, which becomes a really big challenge, especially for somebody who uses a wheelchair.
“Pushing him or her, touching all that mess, this is a health crisis to our members. Whether one washes their hands, still, the wheels will have the waste pasted on them.”
NCDPZ offers services such as repair of wheelchairs or attending to referrals to and from the Department of Social Welfare and other agencies.
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The organisation is located along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway, sharing an avenue with Mpilo OI CLinic and Queenspan Maboneng.
“For those who are using wheelchairs, this is the only gate we use, and since it’s the only way, one has to go back. One would just be pushing.
“Because they don’t have gloves, you’d be pushing, holding, touching the mess, or alternatively, if he or she finds somebody to help them, then one of us has to go to the main road because even if we push him, it will all be spilling on him,” Longshaw said.
“And we also have a project here. They cook sadza that they sell to the public, which becomes a very dangerous health crisis to the members.
“We don’t know what this will do to the customers who come and buy their lunch. Sometimes they (cooks) are not even able to cook because effluent will be flowing into the yard.”
Bulawayo deputy mayor and ward 8 councillor Edwin Ndlovu advised the organisation to report the matter to council's roads department for quick response.
