News / National
Harare Magistrates' Courts resume after typhoid scare
13 Feb 2012 at 05:10hrs | Views
Workmen drill a borehole at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts yesterday. The courts were closed last week following a typhoid scare
THE Harare Magistrates' Courts, which were closed last Friday following a typhoid scare, will reopen today to only deal with cases that were postponed to today. Water was still a problem at the courts by yesterday although there were intermittent supplies only on the first floor.
Government workers started drilling a borehole at the courts last week, a move which is expected to provide a permanent solution to the perennial water problem.
The courts were forced to close at 11am last Friday after a suspected typhoid outbreak reportedly affected magistrates and other staff.
The court complex has been without running water for the past few weeks.
"We are expecting the borehole which they started drilling on Saturday to be completed on Thursday," said an official.
"It would be a permanent solution to the water problems that affect the court which is visited by at least 1 000 people a day.
"After they finish drilling the borehole, a pump which will impel water into tanks will be installed."
The court official said the tanks would have a collective capacity of at least 30 000 litres.
He said they would be connected to a booster which will pump water into 11 tanks which are the court building.
The building has five 5 000 litre tanks on its fifth floor and a further three tanks on the third floor.
The official said once the water is pumped into the tanks it would naturally flow to the rest of the court complex.
The court official said council would first test the water to see if it is fit for human consumption.
If it is not fit for consumption, the water would be used for other purposes which include cleaning toilets.
The water problem has been hampering the speedy completion of court cases thereby creating backlogs.Toilets at the complex were not functioning and efforts by the authorities to lock them failed after some people kept on breaking in due to non-availability of alternative toilets.
Harare City Council is battling to contain a typhoid outbreak that has affected over 1 000 people.
Government workers started drilling a borehole at the courts last week, a move which is expected to provide a permanent solution to the perennial water problem.
The courts were forced to close at 11am last Friday after a suspected typhoid outbreak reportedly affected magistrates and other staff.
The court complex has been without running water for the past few weeks.
"We are expecting the borehole which they started drilling on Saturday to be completed on Thursday," said an official.
"It would be a permanent solution to the water problems that affect the court which is visited by at least 1 000 people a day.
"After they finish drilling the borehole, a pump which will impel water into tanks will be installed."
He said they would be connected to a booster which will pump water into 11 tanks which are the court building.
The building has five 5 000 litre tanks on its fifth floor and a further three tanks on the third floor.
The official said once the water is pumped into the tanks it would naturally flow to the rest of the court complex.
The court official said council would first test the water to see if it is fit for human consumption.
If it is not fit for consumption, the water would be used for other purposes which include cleaning toilets.
The water problem has been hampering the speedy completion of court cases thereby creating backlogs.Toilets at the complex were not functioning and efforts by the authorities to lock them failed after some people kept on breaking in due to non-availability of alternative toilets.
Harare City Council is battling to contain a typhoid outbreak that has affected over 1 000 people.
Source - TH
