ZIMBABWE’S public toilets in many cities are not only an eyesore, but health time bombs waiting to explode, particularly at busy places such as bus terminuses.
Report by Vimbai Marufu
The majority of them are squat-toilets that are smelly and dilapidated due to lack of maintenance.
No one seems to care about the danger posed by such important public facilities and city fathers in most cities are guilty of neglect.
One man in Chitungwiza, Musatye Mupanguri, a businessman, had the community at heart and came up with the idea to revamp the public toilets at Makoni Shopping Centre to restore sanitation to the place.
Mupanguri said Makoni, being the nerve-centre of Chitungwiza, needed public toilets for people to use and the council did not seem too keen on addressing that issue hence he took the responsibility.
“Makoni is the hub of Chitungwiza and the fact that it does not having public toilets was unfortunate.
“Imagine your aunt coming from Rusape and wanting to use the toilet, she would end up relieving herself in the most inappropriate places like bars as most restaurants require one to buy first before using their toilets,” said Mupanguri.
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Mupanguri operates Jikichori Caterers, fast-food outlets both at Makoni and in Harare central business district.
In 2010, Mupanguri, in conjuction with the Chitungwiza Town Council renovated the old, neglected municipal-owned public toilets at Makoni Bus Terminus and converted them into pay-toilets.
Everything from the worn out paint, rusty pipes, was removed and redone, two 5 000-litre water tanks were installed and to secure the place, a fence was erected.
“The whole project consumed about $3 700 as I changed almost everything from the roof, plumping, water tank stands, signage posts, fencing and repaint,” said Mupanguri.
He added that the decision to make them pay toilets was an agreement with the council and the money was for the upkeep of the toilets for buying detergents, brooms and the remainder, if there was any, was to be shared between Mupanguri and the council.
Muchaneta Kamoto (25) a vendor at Makoni Shopping Centre she said the gesture by Mupanguri was appreciated as the toilets were a necessity for many traders at Makoni.
“There are many traders here who use these toilets and paying 2 rand is not too much so the gesture done by Jikichori is appreciated as we are now able to relieve ourselves in clean toilets than going to bars ,” said the vendor.
However, in 2011, the political situation in Zimbabwe was volatile and Mupanguri said some youths and members of the community failed to see his gesture as beneficial to the community and thought it was a commercial venture which only benefited him.
He said that the youths started harassing and beating up his workers and at that time most council properties were sold to individuals, a move which caused the council workers to strike as they went for months without pay.
With that happening and affecting his business, Mupanguri went back to the council, a move that saw him being reimbursed some of the money he had used in the project.
Chitungwiza Town Clerk George Makunde said Mupanguri’s gesture was a noble one and people who plough back into the community are appreciated.
“The idea of ploughing back into the community is very good and is commendable, but at times people come hiding behind community projects and 3-4 months down the line they change their tone of the community element to personal gain. However, his idea was a very good one as it benefited a lot of people regardless of the turnout of the event,” said the town clerk.
Mupanguri as an entrepreneur said he wants development to be achieved and environment preservation was important.
He added that the Chitungwiza council should partner with businesspeople so as to overcome service delivery challenges.
