Apart from
residential areas such as compounds open defecation is imminent in the Lusaka
Central Business District due to lack of toilets.
Areas mostly
affected include along the rail line, Cairo Road, Kamwala flyover bridge,
drainages and behind some mobile money booths as some people resort to urinate
or defecate in these places.
In an
interview with some traders in the Central Business District, they explained
that shortage of toilets in the CBD and paying fee attached to it, many cannot
manage to pay a toilet fee due to the nature of their business where the profit
is not enough.
They said
that many resort to flying toilets (urinating or defecating in plastic bags and
packs) and then throw away.
“There are
few council toilets in the city and they cannot cater the huge number of
traders conducting their businesses in the city and one has to pay K3 which
many see it as a burden but if they can reduce the fee to K1 every person can
be able to use the toilets” said the traders.
Others
pointed out that some street kids have contributed to open defection in the
city because they spend their time there and do not use toilets to relieve
themselves. They said some people also relieve themselves in mobile money
booths causing unpleasant smell in some areas within the city.
And Lusaka
City Council Public Health Director Christopher Mtonga says the council will
soon engage the Mobile Money Association of Zambia to ensure mobile money
booths are put in designated areas.
He said the
council has taken note of the situation and soon all the mobile money booths
will removed in the city to ensure sanity in the CBD.
Nyonge Phiri
who is an Engineer at LWSSC says open defection is still a major challenge in
the city and the company is making strides to address the challenge with the
help from cooperating partners especially in the compound where their focus is.
“You have to
know that each person produces 75Kg of feacal matter per year, now where does
all the fecal matter go, it goes to the ground and possibilities that
underground water can be affected or polluted are high” said Eng. Phiri.
He said the
Company has embarked on the construction of the portable toilets aimed at
improving sanitation and hygiene services in areas such as Kanyama, Zingalume, Chawama
among others.
Meanwhile,
Environmentalist, Robert Chimambo says open defecation does not only disturb
public sights but also creates ideal environment for the outbreak of
transmissible diseases.
He said open
free defecation goal cannot be realized without full involvement of all the
people and asked stakeholders and the entire community to be steadfast in the
implementation of the cleaning campaign and urged the people to tighten-up
hygienic measures in order to avoid communicable diseases in the area.
And Lusaka
Central Constituency Member of Parliament Mulambo Haimbe has urged the traders
to keep the environment clean and ensure that sanitation and hygiene is
observed. “ He says sanitation and hygiene is cardinal to prevent diseases.
In
complimenting the LSSC efforts, Water Aid Zambia in partnership with a local
NGO, People’s Process on Housing and Poverty in Zambia have supported the
construction of 1, 200 toilets in Lusaka’s Kanyama area.
The exercise
has been executed through the Clean Cities for Growth and Development project
in partnership with Lusaka Water and Sanitation Company to complement
Government efforts in ending waterborne diseases.
Water Aid
Zambia Programme Officer Kangwa Chinkutele said the project intends to promote
access to sanitation services to 1, 200 as a direct contribution from the
project responding to SDG 6 and 13.
Ms
Chinkutele added that LWSC through the Lusaka Sanitation Project has
implemented a pre-financing model and discounted the cost to facilitate the
construction of the household toilets.
She added
that due to the financing mechanism, the uptake by households in Kanyama has
significantly increased, and that WaterAid expects the model to continue in
other peri-urban areas.
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