With the ever-increasing deterioration in the public service sector in the country resulting in the vast piles of trash and sewage building up in the cities, the next thing to fear, experts say, is Bubonic Plague.
Cases of the Plague have been reported in Zimbabwe in the past, and a visit to the city alleys in Bulawayo is testament to the perfect breeding grounds for plague-carrying rodents.
For many months the Municipalities in Zimbabwe have simply been unable to cope with the removal of rubbish. Great piles of trash, rotting vegetables, putrid entrails, piles of waste paper, have been seen growing in alleys and sanitary lanes.
Bulawayo residents are forced to either burn their own garbage, or to take it to the landfill sites, where hundreds of starving beggars dig frantically for scraps in the piles of stench and detritis.
On the Khami Road in Bulawayo is a municipal facility where trash can be dumped. Here, on bricks, without tyres and without engine parts, lies the majority of the city's dump trucks. The city is in such economic ruin, that even the most essential services are unable to be completed.
Our correspondent went on a tour of alleys and back views from high rise buildings and came up with these pictures – the perfect habitat and ideal breeding grounds for thousands of rodents.
Pest control companies are doing roaring sales in pesticides for rats and mice and say that there could be another serious health problem in Zimbabwe apart from the Cholera epidemic and the anthrax scare.
Post published in: News