Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, already reeling from a diarrhoea outbreak as a result of water shortages, has been told by its fuel-strapped city council that it can only collect refuse once a month.

Garbage has been piling up around the city centre and a stench has now enveloped most high-density suburbs, where refuse has not been collected for the past 3 weeks. Bulawayo has recorded 3,600 cases of diarrhoea since the disease hit the city in August 2007.

"The issue of refuse collection touches directly on health as we face serious disease outbreaks, and the situation we are in will be worsened by the water
shortages we are facing at the moment, and diarrhoea-related cases will increase as a result," said Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, the mayor.

Zanele Hwalima, director of health services, warned that the uncollected refuse could cause a possible rodent problem, which could expose residents to other diseases. "The risk of disease outbreaks will be high ... apart from [rodents] destroying food stores, there is the risk that the rodents will carry plague and contaminate food they come into contact with when they invade people's homes."

Zimbabwe, battling a long-running economic meltdown, has been severely hit by foreign exchange shortages that have affected its ability to import fuel and other essential commodities.

Most of the vehicles in the refuse collection fleet were donated by French companies, and raising foreign currency to purchase spares is a problem. The city has also grounded its ambulance fleet because of fuel shortages, and the council says it is unable to maintain its fleet of other vehicles because it cannot import spare parts.

The mayor said fuel supplies from the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) were erratic and inadequate to meet the city's needs. NOCZIM officials commented that everyone was aware of the fuel shortages in the country.

Local authorities are not allowed to purchase fuel on the thriving but illegal black market. Private businesses purchase petrol and diesel on the black market at a cost of Z$1 million per litre (about US$0.74 at the parallel market exchange rate of Z$1.35 million to US$1). The official price for fuel is Z$120,000 per litre (US$0.08).

"If the [national] government allowed us to buy fuel on the black market we [could] purchase fuel on the black market for critical areas such as fire and ambulance emergency services, refuse collection and for responding to complaints of burst sewers," said Ndabeni-Ncube.

Alternatives

Garbage was cleared once a week before the council's decision to scale down refuse collection to once a month. Health director Hwalima said the city council was in the process of devising alternative measures to help residents with waste management systems that could prevent disease outbreaks.

"We are urging residents to bury all organic refuse instead of dumping the refuse in undesignated areas and on street corners, and we are urging the residents to desist from burning the waste, as this might cause damage to property and the emission of toxic fumes, which might cause injury."

Winos Dube, chairman of the Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA), suggested that the national government consider allowing local authorities to purchase their own fuel on the black market.

Bulawayo residents complained that it was unfair of the council to continue to demand refuse collection fees when the service was being offered on an irregular basis.

"We are paying a refuse collection fee of Z$500,000 [about US$0.03] a month and we expect council to reduce the amount, since they will only be collecting once a month, and if they do not collect for a certain month then they should not charge us at all," said city resident Mary Moyo. An irate Sithabile Ncube, who also lives in Bulawayo, suggested that the council use donkey-drawn carts if it had no fuel.