Staff Reporter
Marondera residents are angry following a Council decision to drill a borehole near a toilet at Marondera Bus Terminus in a move that could be a ticking health time bomb.
The local authority is currently drilling boreholes in each ward using funds from its coffers as a measure to alleviate water shortages that have seen some suburbs failing to access clean water for years.
However, residents and travellers blasted council after it drilled one of the boreholes in front of a toilet at the main bus terminus with some asking the health complications associated with such a siting.
Town engineer Itayi Mashonganyika, however, defended the site saying they had to site it at the toilet due to availability of groundwater at the place.
“There is no water elsewhere except that area. Even TM could not find water when they drilled their borehole around the area,” he said.
Marondera Town has recorded some typhoid cases in the past few years while the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) last year reported that 80% of boreholes in the town had coliforms hence unsafe for drinking.
Area councillor Saizi Vilela said the drilling of the borehole at the ablution facilities is strategic given the human traffic at the terminus.
“That place needs a constant supply of water. All blockages are a result of water shortages hence that decision,” he said.
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