Kadoma residents have expressed concern over appalling service delivery in their city under the watch of the opposition-led City Council amid the rising cholera cases accros the country.
The city has been bedeviled by water challenges, bursting sewer pipes and non-refuse collection for years, posing a health threat to the residents as the country continues fighting the spread of the waterborne disease.
As of June 18, 2023, a cumulative total of 2 689 suspected cholera cases, 16 laboratory confirmed deaths, 49 suspected cholera deaths and 712 laboratory confirmed cases were reported, according to the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
A snap survey done by The Herald reveals that some shopping centres in Kadoma have no public toilets and this has forced locals to relieve themselves at the backs of the buildings and nearby bushes.
The central business district is said to have public toilets that are being run by a community based organisation which charges exorbitantly for people to use the toilets.
Talking to this publication, a local resident who operates as a vendor in the city expressed concern over the council’s negligence in service delivery.
“There is an outbreak of cholera now, that disease can spread so fast under these circumstances, our council should do something because our lives are at risk,” she said.
The Director of Works Engineer Blessings Musasira told the state owned paper that there was a lack of public toilets in the city.
“The associated infrastructure is meant for the public hence the approval of such buildings, issues of toilets are taken seriously.
“However, by our uncaring nature as individuals, owners of these tend to restrict their usage to their employees only for our recklessness. Visit any council premise, any government institution, all those toilets are public facilities,” he said.
“The moment you give a facility free of charge, there is this unbecoming culture of recklessness that has creeped into us. People mess it to the extent that the next person may not be able to use it.”
Delivery of services has been poor across the country for years, especially with regards to waste management, sewer reticulation, water distribution, and the rehabilitation of roads.
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