SUSPECTED cholera has broken out in Kitwe’s Ipusukilo township where residents have been drinking water from shallow wells following the closure of water kiosks by Nkana Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) for non-payment.
And 64 houses in various townships in Kitwe have collapsed following torrential rains in the district.
The two-developments came to light yesterday during a district disaster management meeting held at the district commissioner’s office.
District director of health, Chikafuna Banda, said three people were currently admitted and were under observation at the District Health Management (DHM) cholera centre while three others had been discharged.
Dr Banda said during a district disaster management meeting, chaired by district commissioner, McDonald Mtine and attended by Town Clerk, Ali Simwinga that the report on the outcome of the tests to determine whether it is actual cholera or not was still being awaited.
He said the possibility of the cases being cholera could not be ruled out as people in the township were drinking contaminated water from shallow wells.
Dr Banda said NWSC closed down water kiosks in the township after residents refused to be paying a fee of K50 per 20-litre container.
“People in Ipusukilo are drinking contaminated water after NWSC closed down water kiosks and the water table level has risen. We are currently treating three people from the same township for suspected cholera,” he said.
Mr Mtine said it was regrettable that people should be refusing to pay K50 for water when they were spending more money on beer.
NWSC, however, agreed to immediately re-open the kiosks after Mr Mtine and Mr Simwinga pleaded with the company to do so on the assurance that a formidable committee would be tasked to sensitise residents to start paying for water.
And Mr Simwinga said as at yesterday, a total of 64 houses had collapsed in the district.
He, however, said that most of the collapsed houses were unapproved structures built in illegal settlements.
“Most of these houses which have collapsed are in fact, not approved structures under the country and planning Act,” Mr Simwinga said
Mr Simwinga said so far only a 15-year-old child of Kamatipa township was injured when the house collapsed.
The affected townships include Ipusukilo, Racecourse, Kamatipa, Kawama and Zamtan.
Meanwhile, the cholera situation in Mwense has been normalised following intensive sensitisation in the area.
Mwense District Commissioner Moses Kasumpa confirmed in an interview yesterday saying all the 12 people that were admitted had been discharged.
“At the moment, there have been no reports of cholera. The situation has normalised,” he said.
{Times of Zambia]
We are not surprised, its the order of the year in Zambia. No year passes without pipo dying from preventable disease like cholera.
The world we leave is useless, others are going are flying abroad at the pinch of headache and mere checkups and others are dying from airboned disease, useless, useless useless world we leave in!!!
Ukunya,lyonse tulalandapo pakunya,takwabapofye!!! Shit responsibly pipo
it is a shame ???we ar going backwards while our frds are going forward.cholera shud be a thing of a past if we have resposible leaders.leadership is serving pipo not to to served.
With the rain season at its peak, people are swimming in paddles of sewage water, no wonder cholera is on the loose yet again! No drainage for all that water, broken sewage tanks all over the townships, the whole place is a stinking hell hole.