Refuse collection and disposal declined dramatically during the past decade, contributing significantly to the decline in quality of potable water.
In the first half of 2012 an estimated 4,831 cases of Typhoid had been recorded in the capital city. Environment Africa (EA) has attributed this directly to poor waste management practices.
Tributaries that feed into Lake Chivero, the city’s main water source, are lush with industrial and non-biodegradable waste. These include streams in Avondale, Monavale, Manyame, Umwinsidale and Mukuvisi.
EA Business and Biodiversity officer, Mukundi Mutasa, says; “Diarrhoeal diseases are a direct impact of poor waste management practices, and this is what happens when we pollute our water resources. In addition the stench from polluted water sources results in general discomfort while areas with polluted water bodies are an eyesore,”
This has a domino effect on the value of the areas surrounding these water sources, especially in those seeking to attract investment.
He said the biodiversity downstream of Lake Chivero has been dwindling as a direct result of contamination.
“The pollution caused through dumping of waste into water bodies upstream of Lake Chivero is manifesting itself through biodiversity loss in the lake downstream, yet Lake Chivero is the main source of drinking water for Harare residents.”
Timothy Jume who is employed as a gardener says he is aware of the complications arising from his dumping of waste in the creeks along cork road in Avondale, but said that due to inconsistent refuse collection he had no other option than to dump the rubbish in the stream.
“As you can see the temperatures are now hot and if the garbage piles up for three weeks flies will increase in numbers posing a greater threat to us, it is better to let the river carry it away,” said Jume.
He added that the bulk of waste in the creek was coming from vagrants who have set-up camp in the river-beds.
However a disgruntled vagrant, Paulina Rugare, who lives in the stream next to Kensington shops, said residents were to blame for the deterioration of the creeks.
Rugare said the stream was her main source of drinking water, but now she is forced to queue for safer water at nearby borehole taps.
“When we first arrived the water was very clean, we would drink it without falling sick. However people who stay in these areas are dumping nappies, building materials, car chemicals and other things that make us sick,” she said.
She said although she was a vagrant she had a right to a clean and safe environment.
Steady Kangata, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) education and publicity manager, has warned of a looming ‘Ecological crunch’ in the capital.
He says the crisis has been buoyed by a dearth of functional city by-laws drawn from the Environment Management Act (20:27), which clearly stipulates the “polluter pays” policy.
He says if corrective measures are not put in place immediately, ecosystems such as wetlands responsible for sponging of waste in Harare will grind to a complete halt.
“The geographical terrain of Harare with regards to waste dumping in and around water bodies is a case of a dog biting its own tail at both household and industrial level.
“Solid and liquid waste is finding its way into our main water source Chivero and as such the cost of purifying portable water has surged ranging around $3 million a month,”
Kangata urged concerned stakeholders need to formulate Private Public Partnerships to reverse the damage to which they have contributed to.
“Residents should stop the blame-shifting approach and engage each other on how best to resuscitate the waning ecological system,” he said.
Kangata indicated that a functional city by-law that granted municipal police, residents amongst other players’ authority to effect arrests on the spot for would-be offenders was now over-due.
He said there was need for a refuse management system that would facilitate the recovery of the fading bionetworks.
The minimum fine for a level three offense in act is pegged at $20 while level 14, where people are caught dumping waste, is $5000. This money, said Mutasa, should be channelled towards “restoration of the degraded environment
Post published in: Environment
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