Sanitary conditions at Kyawama market are terrible

Sanitary conditions at Kyawama market are terrible

Solwezi, February 21, ZANIS —— A waterborne disease is looming at Kyawama market in Solwezi district following the breakdown of public toilets and lack of water supply resulting in people answering the call of nature in open places.

where the public toilets have broken down, there is no water supply and people are defecating in open places.

The Market Committee Chairperson Whinwell Mutale complained in a statement to ZANIS yesterday that it is just a matter of time before the market is hit by a serious waterborne disease like cholera.

Mr Mutale said the market is operating without water while cisterns in the waterborne toilets have also broken down while garbage has remained uncollected.

He disclosed that some traders have continued to use the same broken toilets while the majority of them have resorted to answer the call of nature in uncompleted structures at the market.

Mr Mutale fears that the heavy rains and flooding experienced in the area may result in contamination and fuel a cholera outbreak as a result of the human waste being deposited in the open.

Another trader at the market, Jack Chitengi complained that since the council took over the running of the market sanitary conditions have deteriorated.

Mr Chitengi appealed to the municipality to start ploughing back the money it collects from the traders through levies to quickly repair the toilets, restore water supply and start collecting garbage regularly.

Solwezi Municipal Council Public Relations Manager Chris Mulaliki told ZANIS in an interview that the local authority was aware of the sanitation problems at Kyawama and other three markets in Zambia, Messengers and Kazomba compounds.

Mr Mulaliki said Kyawama like the other three markets have problems with public toilets which are broken down due to increased influx of people using the facilities.

However, he said the council has set aside money in this year’s budget to build toilets in the four markets.

He said the council is also in the process to procure a vacuum tanker to be emptying the sewer soaker system at the markets.

Mr Mulaliki however, refuted allegations that the municipality is not collecting garbage from the markets, saying the council has bought and distributed 20 mobile garbage bins and employed cleaners for the markets.

Meanwhile traders at Kyawama market are up in arms against the council for failing to complete a building which is supposed to shelter vegetable traders.

Some of the vegetable traders, Anna Kabinda and Memory Musoma said despite the council levying KR1.00 from the over 1,500 traders at the market daily, it has failed to complete a building to shelter them from hot sun and rain when going about their business.

The duo said the shelter for vegetable traders was started by Zambia National Marketers Association (ZANAMA) before the group was deregistered.

They said when the council took over the market the project stalled and their pleas to the local authority to complete the project have fallen on deaf ears.

But, Mr Mulaliki said the council cannot fund the completion of the vegetable shelter because it could trigger an audit query since the same project was funded under the Constituency Developments Funds but the money was misused.

He also said that there is a case under investigations over undeclared assets that former ZANAMA officials in Solwezi were holding on behalf of the traders at Kyawama market.