From Firle, Crowborough, Marlborough, Hatcliffe, Donnybrooke, Budiriro and Borrowdale pump stations, the council has been releasing sewage into water bodies without caring about the consequences of doing so.
The council’s dilapidated sewerage network has also been failing — thereby spewing waste even at people’s doorsteps.
This despicable practice has continued even in the face of the cholera epidemic which claimed over 4 000 lives in Harare three years ago. Only recently, there were reports of a typhoid outbreak in Budiriro which was attributed to contaminated drinking water.
The city council has ignored all appeals by residents and concerned organisations to stop the practice, which has endangered the lives of many people who, ironically, pay the rates that sustain the authority.
It is against this background that we welcome the decision by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) to fine the council for discharging raw sewage into the environment. While the US$15 000 fine is nothing compared to the magnitude of the problem at hand, it is a positive step that goes to show that EMA has awoken from its deep slumber and is finally acting to stop the rot.
EMA should not end there. It should step up its policing duties to ensure that all councils, not just the Harare City Council, are complying with environmental laws. Too many councils are disposing solid waste at undesignated sites without disposal licences.
Recently, Masvingo City Council came under fire from residents for discharging raw sewage into Mucheke river. The sewage is to blame for the putrefying smell in Rujeko and Eastvale areas which are close to the river.
The Environmental Management Act provides EMA with enough ammunition to fight these practices that harm the environment.
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Since EMA is now taking a tough stance against the delinquent councils, the Ministry of Environment must also push for the revision of fines which are presently too low.
Only deterrent fines commensurate with the damage caused to the environment can stop sewage dumping by local authorities.
