THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has expressed concern over the increasing practice of open defecation by vendors in the central business district (CBD) particularly in the streets and sanitary lanes.
According to the latest council minutes, the local authority said the situation is particularly alarming in the wake of the nation’s ongoing battle against a cholera outbreak.
Open defecation refers to the human practice of defecating in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces.
It is against water and sanitisation ideals that the Government is aiming to achieve as it gears toward Vision 2030.
People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals or other open spaces for defecation.
They do so either because they do not have a toilet readily accessible or due to traditional cultural practices.
“A complaint was received concerning vendors in the CBD Fifth Avenue area who were practicing open defecation and bathing in the sanitary lanes. An inspection of the sanitary lanes was done and heaps of faeces were seen in the sanitary lanes. The area was smelly and flies had become a nuisance,” the minutes read in part.
“Some of the vendors were found sorting their wares (food) in the sanitary lanes. This was a worrying situation in view of the fact that the country was struggling with a cholera outbreak and the vendors who were fouling the area were coming from all over the country which exposed…
