Blessing Nduku
Engineers are constantly retrieving items such as blankets, clothes, undergarments, plastics, and sanitary pads inside sewer manholes which lead to frequent blockages and sewer pipe bursts in the high-density suburb of Woodlands Phase 2.
Ward 5 Councilor Parirenyatwa Nyika noted that residents were responsible for the sewer pipe bursts in Woodlands Park Phase 2, which is a health hazard to young children and adults as well.
“As you can see, we had to clear sand from the pipeline, we are at fault as residents and I am here to encourage everyone to be responsible and take note because this is not caused by the land developer River Valley Properties but it is caused by us residents as we throw litter and other materials into the manhole.
“We must plan a ward waste management awareness campaign here in Woodlands Park as I feel at times people are not even aware of the consequences of throwing bottles and blankets in the manhole.
Muzvondiwa Rice from the River Valley Engineering Department said a lot of clutter was found inside the pipeline such as used diapers, while in some parts of the pipeline, the manholes had been vandalized.
“You should have seen what came out from this pipeline and some of you would not believe it. Imagine retrieving broken tiles, plastics and bottles inside a manhole meaning someone threw inside.
People are also mischievous, as they open the manhole and dump their litter. Others vandalize the manhole, remove the lids, place diapers, clothes and many other things”.
Residents chairman Mr Obert Rupanga said residents should be educated by all stakeholders on how sewer systems work as well as assist them on how to manage waste.
“I urge all the stakeholders to come up with a plan where we will educate our residents on how to manage waste. Water can’t drain leading to hotspots where the pipes burst as there is no drainage due to all the sand and stones. We discovered those black stones in one of the manholes.”
He went on to say that as stakeholders they should come up with a strategy where residents will be penalized if any material is found in manholes.
“We are seeing broken tiles which causes blockages therefore I am encouraging all stakeholders to come together with a penalty for households that will be found with materials in manholes it will reduce blockages that will lead to burst pipes as well as awareness campaigns that will alert residents on the causes of throwing materials in manholes.”
Some of the residents are unperturbed saying they have become accustomed to the stench as the sewage has been flowing for quite some time now.
Engineers said it was easy to identify houses and tenants responsible for blockages in an area as each main hole covers a certain number of houses.
“It’s easy to investigate and to find out the people responsible for throwing rubbish in main holes. For example, this main hole covers ten houses,” he said.
Most residents welcomed the suggestion that responsible people should be fined heavily and brought to book for causing serious health hazards in the area.
