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Cleanliness: Only way to eradicate cholera
2006-03-27 08:50:05
By Maria Masebo
Currently the country is battling with cholera. I must say we have to consider ourselves lucky because this disease should have come earlier on. We can’t complain that we have been caught unaware.
I am particularly worried about the state of affairs in Dar es Salaam.
This has actually been worsened by the rains currently falling.
You can hardly do any shopping in Kariakoo because of the dirt and grime.
Our city has been in an unclean state for quite a long time.
You can hardly walk a hundred meters without coming across a burst sewage pipe, overflowing garbage bin or a heap of garbage constituting of left over food and plastics.
Sometimes you would find people seated along the pavement eating or cooking food for sale yet two meters from where they are, you see a stream of dirty water flowing. What more would you expect under such circumstances?
Most papers have carried articles, letters and editorials advocating for a clean environment but no one listened to these calls. It didn’t seem to matter.
In fact the more the people talked about the dirtier the city became.
I think writing about it alone is not enough.
It’s time for action. We need to look for a practical solution to this problem before we lose many innocent lives.
Children play in this dirty environment day after day because most of them are innocent and ignorant of the health hazards caused by grime and filth.
The residents need to change their attitude. They have to desist from throwing litter all over the place.
The city fathers have done a lot in making sure that garbage bins are placed all over the city therefore residents should make use of them.
Stern measures should be taken against those people who throw litter everywhere.
You will be surprised to see a smartly dressed lady throwing banana peals on the pavement and the next time you find her complaining that the city is dirty yet she contributed to that dirtiness.
The issue of garbage bins reminds me of something else. The refuse collection companies are also to blame to some extent.
They delay in collecting the refuse bins and in most cases we find them overflowing and harbouring all sorts of gems and flies.
The situation worsens when it rains; the litter starts flowing all over the streets making it very uncomfortable for pedestrians who walk along those streets daily.
Something should be done about these refuse collection companies by the city fathers.
Most of them argue that some of the people do not pay the refuse collection fee that is why they do not collect it.
Well, this can be solved, the city fathers can device a system of fining those residents who fail to pay for collection of refuse because we cannot allow them to endanger the rest of society because of their negligence.
I have been to other countries and I have seen and envied the way they keep their cities clean. What is so special about them? Are they in any way different from us? I don’t think so.
We just lack the determination and will power to do so but we can do so if we really want to.
Our problem is we seem to have all the time in the world.
We do our things slowly. If we had taken heed to the various articles, editorials and letters written advocating for cleanliness, I am sure we wouldn’t have fallen prey to cholera.
We should think about it seriously and take a new turn where hygiene is concerned.
Even without the outbreak of cholera, the state of our city is not good.
It is very dirty and the problem is we seem to be a tourist destination for many and one wonders what kind of picture we want to paint to other countries.
Surely what image of our country do we expect the tourists to carry back home if what they see whenever they turn their heads are piles of dirt?
Don’t we think this is a cause of concern?
It’s a mere case of negligence, lack of respect for our own city.
We don’t want to bear the responsibility of making our city clean.
We throw litter everywhere because we say there is someone employed to sweep the streets.
I was shocked one day when I was walking with a friend of mine who happens to be a very elegant person, when she threw her banana peel on the pavement along Samora Machel Avenue.
I couldn’t restrained myself so I gasped loudly and I asked why she had done such a shameful thing.
Her reply was, ’if I don’t throw litter here someone will be jobless, let me do so, so that those men and women can get the sweeping job, if we keep the streets clean they will be fired.’
Imagine such a statement coming from a highly educated smart woman.
What more would you expect from our fellow brothers and sisters who are not educated and do not know anything about hygiene and its importance. We have a long way to go I suppose.
Another thing that the city fathers need to do is to make sure that there are public toilets around town.
Take for instance Kariakoo area and the city center, there are no public toilets and one wonders how people are supposed to relieve themselves.
That is why most pavements have this stinking smell of urine because people often relieve themselves on the pavements and any dark alleys.
Under such circumstances do you think we can conquer cholera?
The city fathers and all other stake holders have to tighten the grip in order to make sure that the residents observe cleanliness.
It’s time for action. Its no use making so much noise about our dirty environment yet do nothing about it.
We need to go a step further and rescue ourselves from this mess.
We started it and only we can get ourselves out of it.
Our initiative and commitment will enable us to convert our dear city from a filthy place into a very clean one which is disease free.
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