Chiredzi residents have accused Environmental Management Agency (EMA) district officer Peter Mugodhi of turning a blind eye to the discharge of raw sewage into an urban stream by the town council.
BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA
The effluent has been flowing for over six months into the stream that runs between Tshovani high-density and the newly constructed extension of the central business district (CBD), posing a health threat to residents.
Council employees broke the pipe while constructing a drainage canal and a small bridge across the stream, but did not fix it. Mugodhi said he was going to engage town engineers.
“Did you talk to the town engineers? Where is that? Are sure it’s not fixed? I am going to call them so that they can fix it,” Mugodhi said.
Town engineer Wesley Kauma said he was not allowed to talk to the Press and referred all questions to chairperson Gibson Hwende and town secretary Charles Muchatukwa.
Hwende said: “I have noted that and I am definitely going to instruct the engineering department to attend to that pipe immediately. Thank you very much for bringing that to our attention.”
United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers Association advocacy officer Bernard Dachi said council was sitting on a health time bomb. “As it is, Chiredzi is sitting on a health time bomb. Some people downstream might end up using this water for laundry or doing dishes since we still have water problems in town. This can lead to another disease outbreak like typhoid and cholera,” he said. ”Council should immediately fix that problem because we cannot afford to have another disease outbreak at the moment when we are currently trying to contain the spread of COVID-19.”
