Sewage nightmare haunts Gweru residents

Tinashe Zisengwe

A health crisis is looming in Gweru where raw effluent is flowing from burst sewer pipes that have been left unattended two weeks back despite the matter having been reported to the local authority.

The raw sewage is flowing mostly in the city’s oldest high density suburbs of Ascot and Mtapa.

Residents are in fear of a possible outbreak of diseases such as the deadly typhoid and cholera.

During interviews, hordes of affected residents blamed the local municipality for turning a blinding eye on them as the situation gets unbearable.

“We are afraid of water borne diseases if the situation persists, council came and tried to fix but moments after they left sewer was already at our door steps,” said an Ascot resident, Larven Moyo.

Another resident Debra Jaka had this to say, “Our children play close to the contaminated waters oblivious of the looming disease outbreak. We can no longer use our ablution facilities as the sewage is flowing directly into our houses.”

Shockingly council officials are blaming heavy rains for the continuous sewage flows.

“We are trying to fix the blockages, but we are failing to find one, we believe the heavy rains experienced this season are to blame for the sewerage overflowing,” said Lazarus Mangwana a council employee.