The Bulawayo City Council is looking at other options of destroying mosquito-breeding spaces in the city after abandoning the idea of hiring a forking machine for US$15 000.
BY PATRICIA SIBANDA
The matter came up during a full council meeting on Wednesday.
Town clerk Christopher Dube said hiring a forking machine would bleed the already cash-strapped local authority.
“In our budget, we had proposed hiring a forking machine to get rid of the adult mosquitoes, but now that the economy is facing challenges, we will not do so. The last time we hired one it (cost us) US$15 000. What about now? I am sure it costs more than that,” he said.
Health services director Edwin Sibanda advised that residents must make sure that they also get rid of mosquito -breeding areas in their homes.
“We are doing our utmost best to destroy the breeding sites. As for residents, it’s important that you clean gutters in your homesteads to avoid mosquitoes breeding in those areas,” he said.
Sibanda said some of the areas in the high-density suburbs had been cleared as of last year, but the local authority had run out of some of the chemicals they use.
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“The section had continued with streambank clearing exercise and the following streams had been cleared: 975m Bulawayo Spruit, 1 390m along Nketa 9, 3 080m along Emganwini Island, 1 275m along Senzangakhona and 1 435m along Nketa Park Mpopoma streams,” council’s latest minutes read.
“Breeding of mosquitoes had been encountered along the streams. Spotters had continued monitoring streams for mosquito breeding and attending to interdepartmental requisitions. All mosquito control chemicals were out of stock.”
