Minister warns against open defecation

VILLAGERS in Matabeleland North must stop rampant open defecation as it causes diseases to humans and material loss of livestock that has to be destroyed after contracting measles, a senior official has warned.

Speaking at the commissioning of a piped water scheme project worth over $16 000 in Ward 23, Fincham area, on Wednesday, the Member of Parliament for Bubi Constituency, Clifford Sibanda, said access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation results in reduced incidences of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera.

"Furthermore, measles in cattle, a disease linked to unhygienic disposal of human waste, has resulted in huge losses to farmers when animals are destroyed at point of sale without compensation," said Sibanda who is also Minister of State in the Vice President Mnangagwa's Office.

Minister Sibanda urged villagers to use contemporary technologies, where a single bag of cement is now enough to put up a standard toilet. "I encourage all villagers to embrace such technologies as we work to improve the quality of our lives and develop Zimbabwe."

Minister Sibanda said it is the Government's intention to ensure increased access to safe drinking water to all citizens and to reduce walking distances to water points. "Investing in clean water infrastructure and sanitation, therefore, is not an option for Government, as huge resources stand to be lost when both people and animals that fall sick have to be treated. In this regard, provision of clean water and sanitation has a significant positive effect on the country's wellness, and the economy in general.

"The Government of Zimbabwe adopted the National Water Policy (NWP) whose water and sanitation vision resonates with the Zim-Asset philosophy, whose social services and poverty eradication cluster emphasises the need for the development of sound water infrastructure, amongst other deliverables," he said.

Minister Sibanda said the village piped water scheme, a first in the district, had been installed under the rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme (WASH), after having commissioned an Open Defecation Free (ODF) village in Kenilworth, also in Bubi constituency, last month.

HelpAge Zimbabwe's Programmes Officer Mr Adonis Faifi said the project would benefit a total of 55 households, translating to a total population of over a thousand beneficiaries in that community.

"This community and many others in this district has been walking up to 20 kilometres to fetch water, with many of them sharing dams or wells with animals. "Complemented by its various partners, government has embarked on the Rural WASH programme- a programme that is being implemented in 33 rural-districts in Zimbabwe, including Bubi," he said.

Mr Faifi said, to date, district-wide, this programme has seen 153 boreholes being rehabilitated and a further 30 new ones drilled. In ward 23, eight boreholes were rehabilitated and two new ones drilled. "Furthermore, through the WASH programme, 59 school latrines have been built in the district to date."

"It is pleasing to note that as a result of this initiative, 41 villages in the district have acquired open defecation-free status. To complement this effort, district-wide education campaigns against Open-Defecation continue to be conducted in support of this programme," said Mr Faifi.