A DISASTER IN WAITING FOR HARARE RESIDENTS

 

Homeless people exposed to environmental health hazards

By Environmental Correspondent

Harare-Zimbabwe

Poor waste management by the City of Harare has seen the Copacabana bus terminus looking like a newly established landfill.

All sorts of waste can be seen scattered all over the place with the few skip bins available reaching over their carrying capacity and over spilling.

"They don't collect waste here, We last saw them a long time ago, The bins are full and overflowing as you can see my brother". said one commuter who pleaded for anonymity.

The political showdown between the Zanu-PF-led national government and the opposition MDC-Alliance which controls Harare's local government business is being blamed for all this irresponsible behavior.

The two political rivals are focusing on exposing each other at the expense of ratepayers and creating a big health hazard in the process.

Mixed waste causing an offensive smell in Harare

Poor waste management in urban areas normally results in the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid.

One opposition politician, Jacob Ngarivhume who leads Transform Zimbabwe has been denied permission to do voluntary clean up work in the city's high-density suburbs including the highly populated Mbare.

Police cited covid 19 regulations in denying Ngarivhume a permit to clean the area which is so disturbing as we have seen certain people being allowed to gather thousands of people for no good reason than just being cheered up and praised.

Residents, commuters and environmental and human rights activists are appealing to the responsible authorities to put their political games on pause and focus on serious governance business if they need to be voted back into office in the upcoming local government by elections and the watershed 2023 Harmonised elections.

SOLUTIONS TO WATER CRISIS AND POLLUTION IN URBAN AREAS

 

A river passes through an urban residential area.

Rivers and streams that pass through urban areas are the most polluted due to various factors ...Rivers transport clean safe water from their source high up in mountains or middle of deep forests up until they pass through a town or city.

Some of the major factors why water pollution is so rampant in urban areas include poor sewage and waste management systems and deliberate illegal dumping of pollutants from both residential, agricultural, and industrial areas

Illegal dumping of Waste leads to water and environmental pollution 

When there is a poor refuse collection service in any residential area illegal dumping is inevitable. 

Residents need proper refuse collection services or education on how to sort their waste for recycling purposes. 

Another contributor to water pollution is manufacturing factories that have no proper waste management plan.

Most of these factories secretly dump their wastewater which contains highly toxic chemicals in water sources. 

Some of these pollutants include dye from textile factories, oil from Engineering, and other manufacturing industries that produce waste oil.

To stop illegal dumping which is a major cause of water pollution Municipalities need to provide a reliable waster collection, transportation, and sewage treatment system.

Residents also need to be educated about the dangers of their actions when they dispose of their waste at illegal sites.

There should also be mass Awareness Campaigns teaching residents about clean water and wastewater management in all urban areas where residents can be taught how to recycle their wastewater and reuse it for other purposes before letting it evaporate back to its natural cycle. 

Leaking taps should be fixed in time and blocked sewage drains should be cleaned to prevent them from bursting as that may cause serious Environmental health hazards. 

Industries need to be strictly penalized if caught dumping any form of waste by the county's Environmental regulations and legislation.