14 May 2020

Authorities in Ghanzi find it difficult to control movement of people in some wards because of unavailability of toilets in their homes.

During interactions with Ghanzi police in the course of the lockdown period, it emerged that some people who flouted stay at home orders in Ghanzi township made excuses that they were from or going to nearby bushes to answer calls of nature.

Apparently, those who made these excuses in most instances were met along Bosele and Meriting ward peripheries.

In an interview on May 12, Ghanzi council secretary, Mr Dick Kalantle conceded that there was indiscriminate disposal of human waste, particularly on the peripheries of Bosele and Meriting ward, attributing that to lack of toilets in some homes.

 “This concern does not arise because of COVID-19, it is a challenge that we have been aware of and efforts to deal with it are ongoing,” he said.

The same challenge, he said, posed a threat because it could cause pollution.

The council secretary held that the council was concerned to the extent that in the recent past they had to investigate why some people relieved themselves in the bush in some areas in the township.

They established that out of 365 households at Bosele ward, 95 had no toilets and out of 471 households at Morama, 186 had no toilets.

“You immediately see that there is a problem and certainly an intervention is needed. This is just a synopsis of two wards out of the entire township,” he pointed out.

Mr Kalantle said they were yet to establish how many households had no toilets at Meriting ward. He acknowledged that some households without toilets in the township were the council beneficiaries.

Mr Kalantle noted that they had previously built 61 houses, fitted with flush toilets for their beneficiaries in the township, but some were yet to be assisted.

He said of the 61 houses built in the township, 13 were at Bosele ward and 10 were at Meriting ward.

Mr Kalantle said 49 household beneficiaries of the council still had no toilets and pointed out that 15 households were at Bosele ward, while at Meriting they were yet to establish such a need.

He said they had planned to build eight flush toilets for their beneficiaries during the current fiscal year. “In Ghanzi pit latrines are not ideal because the water table is high,” he said.

Mr Kalantle said the Council had built a six unit toilet block at Morama, manned by council at no cost to the public in efforts to ease the same challenge.

“We had thought of outsourcing it probably to the youth, but taking into consideration the lives of that particular community we put that thought on hold,” he said.

Mr Kalantle said they had thought of building public toilets where there was such a challenge, ‘but we had to put that on hold as well, especially with financial constraints and manpower shortage to build them, the running cost were also prohibitive,” he said, adding that, saying issues of vandalism also arose.

 He pointed out that ‘we have piloted at Morama and there is no way they can be operated without the involvement of the council’.

Mr Kalantle wished that the council had financial capacity to hire chemical closet toilets and place them at such households, particularly during this period. He said where possible people should ask for use of toilets from neighbours.

Nontheless, he said government was doing all within its powers to address the challenge.

Quizzed why some homes still had no toilets because it was a requirement in all planning areas, he said some homes had been there before the area was declared a planning area.

Mr Kalantle stated that availability of sewage reticulation lines in Ghanzi was convenient for people to build toilets, saying at Meriting, Bosele and Morama, residents had access and connection fees were subsidised.

He said the project had been approved under NDP 11, through Water Utilities Corporation rehabilitation project of sewage lines. ENDS