CLEAN TOILETS HEALTHY NATION
By Gerald Nkisu Katayi
A healthy nation can be identified by her clean toilets.
Reports indicate that 2.6 billion people worldwide are without access to adequate sanitation. According to the Zambian government’s 2000 census, just fewer than 15 percent of Zambia’s 1.8 million households had access to flush toilets or ventilated improved pit latrines.
The importance of clean and safe dispose of human waste in rural Zambia is received with mixed feelings. Discussing the matter is seen as taboo in many traditions. A lot of villages don’t have toilets; defecation in done in the bush. The “civilized villagers” build their toilets and showers a distance from their houses. It is very interesting to note that mostly, the latrines have a brick wall superstructure while the showers have straw walls which can be interpreted as privacy during defecating is much more important than privacy during showering.[pullquote]For the past 20 years the population of Lusaka has been growing, new buildings have been built but no public toilets[/pullquote]
It was reported in the recent past that some non governmental organization built latrines in rural Zambia, but the locals could not use them, instead they turned them into corn storage. As Zambians immigrate from the country side to the city they bring with them the same mentality-anti toilet!
In urban slums the same problem exists. In these unplanned housing most latrines are of poor standard. Sanitary facilities are deemed to be a waste of money by most landlords and the few that do serve the sprawling slums are simply holes overflowing with human waste and maggots. No flush, no porcelain seat to sit on, no toilet paper. No soap, no water; Just a hole.
Lusaka business district is no different. Apart from the toilets in market places the whole city has one public toilet, the one in Kantondo Street. The building housing the toilet is ancient; inside it is pathetic. Water from the old drums used for “flushing” is on the holed floor. Where does the money collected from the users go? The smell is unbearable; graffiti on the walls is done with human waste. One of the graffito by the urinary read “The future generation of this Nation depends on what you are holding in your hands right now.”
For the past 20 years the population of Lusaka has been growing, new buildings have been built but no public toilets. This leaves street vendors and visitors alike with nowhere else to go; most of them are forced to simply defecate in hall ways, others into a bag which gets thrown into the nearest gutter.
The question is what are the city fathers doing concerning this matter? What about the city planners, the mayor and the counselors? Are they of the same mind that toilets are not important?
What about these people with anti-social behavior who urinate, write on the wall with their excreta and defecating outside the toilet? It is completely unacceptable for anyone to act in this manner.
These criminals have no respect for others. They should be prosecuted and civic education given to the residents. The misuse of public toilets leaves patriotic Zambians with no pride in their city. Zambians are one of the best dressed people on planet, it is sad to see them humiliated by these ill informed criminals and self seeking civic leaders.
The mortality rate is very high in Lusaka because of poor sanitation. Cases of diarrhea and cholera are claiming lives every rainy season simply because toilets are not prioritized by those in leadership. Sanitation yields huge economic benefits due to increased productivity, savings on healthcare costs and prevents environmental pollution. If this country is going to be healthy it should start with clean and safe sanitation.
So true, umuntu kunya!
When Sata said development in 90 days I thought he was going to hit the ground running on real development projects like sewage, roads, school classrooms & furniture, bridges, economy diversification, & the like. But Sata & cohorts are just releasing statements. You can’t talk an airplane into flight, non-existent sewage system into existance, dilapidated roads into repair, disqualified personnel into quality personnel, and the list goes on. The reason our leaders at every level have done nothing about sanitation is because they have no clue what to do–ignorance. Also people are complacent about it. City leaders are not put to task to find solutions. City planners are only city planners on paper. If they had the qualification, they would have solved this problem along time ago.
foolish.
We can build a few toilets with money chi Liato buried.
Iwe Chills, the reason nothing has be done is because MMD were busy raping the country!
THIS IS PATHETIC ESPECIALLY IN AFRICA…..we eat too much nokunya too much but without proper toilets…southern province is worse…the bush is too contaminated with; human waste + cow dung = disaster…………..lusaka residents need to change for the better…writing on walls with excreta is total madness.
Tubulu anyela mumenshi. Pipo from Luapula defecate in the water. On a serious note I do not see how this problem can be blamed on Sata and 90 days.
………………..try going to India
KU INDIA BANYA NAMUMBALI YAMUSEBO MU TOWN CENTRE….
# 7 – Tracy
Don’t take us to India please! We have a ‘Home Affairs’ President and I hope he is listening.
#KCI: Tubulu is much clever anyela pameshi; feel for Lusaka and Kafue residents. Chililabombwe, Chingila, Chambishi, Kitwe are some of the major cities whose sewer effluent hit Kafue River where Lusaka water and sewarage draws water for you Lusaka residents. So do you think Lusaka can have sane people? Tubulu land is sparcely populated so the impact of their shitting in water (in terms of contamination) is negligible (scientifically); what about Lusaka?
Unfortunately guys, any building, be it a toilet, a road or a mere flower bed does not grow like oranges or bananas; someone has got to plan for it, test it, develop it, and commission. If your dad could do it, you are stuck. Meaning, if your government cannot do it, you are to do it as a family. If the family cannot do it, you have to rely on God’s plans – earth, nature; but if you are in a shanty infested city like Lusaka, …. i leave it to your imagination.
wonder what would happen to that kama toilet in the pic if Liato went in
yaba Southern province really is worse.The people there don’t even know how to build toilets.For them the Sanga(bush) is the best toilet.it’s true even if some people will think that we’re making jokes of bantustan people.Just anyone to visit rural areas will tell the truth.And that ka boy on the pic is a bantustan.
CHIEF MACHA WAS GIVEN A MEDAL IN SUNCITY FOR BEING THE FIRST CHIEF IN THE WHOLE AFRICA WHO BUILD 95% TOILET FOR HIS PEOPLE.THIS IS IN SOUTHERN PROVINCE IN ZAMBIA.THE WRITER SHOULD VISIT CHIEF MACHA AND WRITE MORE ON TOILET ISSUES.TRADITIONALLY ,TOILETS ARE LOOKED AT WITH A LOT OF SUSPICIOUS AND SUPERSTITIOUSLY IN AFRICA AND ZAMBIA.UNTIL THE TECHNOLOGY OF MAKING COOKING GAS FROM HUMAN WASTE IS WELL EXPLAINED TO PEOPLE AND TAP IT ECONOMICALLY WE ARE STILL FAR TO APPRECIATE THE ENERGY LOST WHEN WE DON’T USE IT.LUSAKA PEOPLE WITH A POPULATION OF 2.5MILLION BY TAPPING THE TECHNOLOGY CAN SAVE ZESCO POWER IN MILLION KILOWATTS.
Nkhani ya kunya …please..u are spoiling my appetite. Bring nkhani ya chindana not KUNYA
Interesting article. I visited my grandmother’s village a few years ago and was told that the toilet for doing ‘number 2’ was in the bush. When I asked why they did not use the communal toilets constructed by an NGO, I was told that it was against our culture. I sure did not understand that. I hope a lot of education is done to get rid of this mentality.
#Best toilets are in Petauke, Dora Siliya’s village. No need for toilets coz when you finish your dump, pigs take over; good recycling!!
Yaba boss toilet nakaili. We grow up in that situation so PF government is not to blame. Let’s help our relative build more improve toilet.
chills u sound so retarded…..how can someone bring development of roads, school classrooms and bridges in 90 days?
REPORTER GERALD NKISU KATAYI – HEADS UP TO YOU FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT: This matter is very close to my heart. Zambia seriously lags behind in this area of sanitation and waste disposal in general. Government and in particular councils are to blame for this. Lusaka is one of those places where you should be sure to have sorted yourself out at home before you get into town, coz if disaster were to strike one can only expect to embarrass themselves in public. Councils should realise that providing public toilets and keeping them in the highest state of cleanliness is a sure way of not only creating employment but keeping the the nation healthy. CONTINUED BELOW…
The situation or rather sanitation standards are so low in our country that just when you enter the country from Zimbabwe, at Chirundu the toilets at Zambia’s border post are dry – only 50metres away from the mighty Zambezi River! That’s lonly leaves a first time visitor to the country wonder what lies ahead. In the meantime there’s always someone charging for the use of such a toilet and slicing tissue paper to each of his/her customers (God knows how he determines the amount of paper you need!) Surely this is a typical case of how we can’t blame “lack of resources” for such a situation at a Point of Entry – for any traveller, such are the things that in your mind define your destination and its citizens.
There’s a friend of mine who loves his copperbelt so much that he refuses to visit Lusaka on the grounds that all his relatives there live in residential areas where toilets are located outside the main house and whose doors are just curtains made out of empty sacks of mealie meal. So he says the only way to “LOCK” yourself in and avoid intrusion is by sounding warning shorts when you hear people approaching, such as coughing or exposing your shoe to the outside! How about that? lol!
If the trick in @21 above fails your last resort is to angrily shout “HEY IWE, SIUMVERA ATI MULI MUNTU”!!
Now, the average cost of a well constructed VIP (Ventilated Improved Pit latrine) is K5.5million. So, to count our loses it means with K2.1billion LIATO has robbed Zambians of 382 such toilets, and this means alot in stripping people of their dignity!!
The best article i have ever read .Keep it up Gerald.We need more such articles.
looooool ati umuthu kunya looooool what is in ur mind Sir Simunyola looool this has cracked me mweeeee
ba kamushi have invaded towns. town planners who hail from toiletless villages are all over councils. inferiority complex at play here. from a mud house to a mansion like hh. what do you expect.
Call me crazy or deluded but,folks don’t live with such poor sanitary conditions bcoz they’re poor,but they’re poor bcoz they live that way.The discipline,focus,responsibility & hard work required to bring and keep such places in high standards is the very same discipline,focus, responsibility & hard work it takes to get out & stay out of poverty.Wherever you find such irresponsible,”do the least” folks its almost always true they’re at the bottom of the social-economic strata.Almost always true too that they’re irresponsible with their own stuff as they are with public stuff.Poverty is a choice not a condition & it takes discipline in every facet of life to stay atop.Discipline in sanitation can feed into discipline in job,school or bizness success and onto beating poverty.
@18, Sokol boys: Please read my comments again. I said, “When Sata said development in 90 days I thought he was going to hit the ground running on real development projects like sewage…” Which means, if I may explain to you again, intiate or embark on these developments without wasting any time. Also Bo Simunyola, this is NOT a laughing matter. We Africans, in general, are too complacent and that’s why our governments are failing and there’s so much suffering among our people. We are too quick to criticise the few among us trying to wake us up and free our minds. I look forward to a day when we shall have a president & a greater majority of Zambias desiring mental freedom and enlightenment above political freedom. Finally, many thanks to those blogging constructively. I SALUTE you
In Zambian villages the go in the bush as they keep pigs, they are natures vacuum cleaners!!
Don’t blame money, blame diet, the type of food which require too much amafi: Nsima, Amabisi, amahehu, minimuse Chibuku drink whisky. Those cassava, fi maize change DIET.
Believe me, in Europe or pa America you can spend 3 days, without ukunyapo where you feel like sure this was a piece of shit.
@kci 6,Batubulu banyela mu menshi,that is your limited knowledge of the Tubululand.If you take a trip to the Tubululand,the first thing that will hit you,is how well planned their infrastructure is.Starting with houses and their toilet system can not be compared with any area in Zambia and that is true.Those who have been there will bear witness.So, what you have in your mind and the reality is far different from the reality.There is no place like Luapula province any where in Zambia.Compare all the city toilets constructed or not, pouring all their waste in the river that provides the water you drink.How safe are you?You will not understand until you take a trip to see for yourself how developed the Tubulus are.
Anywhere in the world,toilets feature very prominently as important among the infra structure that support human life.Unfortunately,in our communities these have been overlooked.Wherever you find communal toilets,they are not looked after the way they should.There is a dual responsibility to this.1.The users 2.Those who maintain them.If the users where careful,every other user will enjoy using them,and those who maintain them will find it easier to do it.Unfortunately,they are not even enough to go round.Equally so,nature calls whether there is one or not.I f you have creative city planners,they will come up with a system that will address the situation.It is this little but things that promote human dignity and improve national image image .
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