BY STEPHEN CHADENGA GWERU City Council has been sprucing up ablution facilities in the city and spearheading water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme through assistance from a German non-governmental organisation (NGO), Welthungerhilfe.
Deputy mayor Cleopas Shiri said the interventions by the NGO had assisted the Midlands capital to fight waterborne diseases.
“Welthungerhilfe came to council during the typhoid outbreak around 2018, and its main area of interest was to help council reduce the spread of waterborne diseases.
“In 2021, they successfully carried out repairs of sanitation facilities at Mkoba 10 and Mkoba 16 public toilets under their WASH activities,” Shiri said.
“They drilled community boreholes at Mkoba 6 and in Athlone, and they also conducted waterpoint committee training (in) Mkoba 6, Athlone, Ascot and Mtapa suburbs.
“We are happy that our friends (Welthungerhilfe) did mini-solar-powered pipe water schemes in Mtapa and Ascot.
They also donated de-blocking sewer rods, hand-washing facilities and hand-washing machines for clinics.”
The WASH intervention by the German organisation came at a time when the city faces challenges in supplying adequate potable water due to power shortages and ageing water infrastructure.
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Gweru also faces a perennial problem of sewer bursts, particularly during the rainy season, a situation that has been exposing residents to waterborne diseases.
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