City of Harare dumps Mbare residents
THE City of Harare has allegedly left Mbare residents to their own devices amid the raging bed bug scourge, NewsDay has learnt.
The scourge which broke out a fortnight ago has left residents traumatised with claims that council was not putting in enough effort to curbing the outbreak.
This has led residents’ associations in Harare to call out the local authority for not being proactive.
Harare mayor Jacob Mafume has been on record saying the clothing bale business in the old suburb is a contributory factor to the outbreak.
In an interview with NewsDay, Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba said the local authority believed the solution lied within residents themselves.
“The situation is saddening. According to the City of Harare, the situation is affecting all the 58 blocks of flats in Mbare. The solution lies in the tenants being responsible for their health and hygiene. Reports suggest that bed bugs thrive most in dark areas, cracks in buildings and on people,” he said.
Shumba said council felt the scourge could be attributed to people from across the country and Mozambicans bringing clothing bales taking up residence in the flats overnight.
“While the situation is really bad in the hostels, the bed bugs are spreading to Mbare National and Joburg Lines. Matererini and Matapi are in a worse situation that has seen volunteers helping with the spraying of the hostels.
whatsapp.com/channel/0029VamRgKqCsU9UopPMOx23 “The best way to deal with the tsikidzi (bed bug) menace is to educate residents that the bed bugs do not want light and the heat of the sun plays a more positive role in combating their spread among residents,” he said.
Shumba said practising good personal hygiene, especially washing clothes with hot water and detergents, goes a long way in alleviating the menace.
“Residents need more awareness of their environment and urban renewal is a viable option available to the residents and key stakeholders.
“Government needs to declare national emergency requiring financial resources to repaint the hostels and refurbish them to become more habitable,” he said.
Campaigning for President Emmerson Mnangagwa before the August 2023 election, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga promised the rehabilitation of Mbare flats to modern standards.
“Another problem is overpopulation and the continuous selling of clothing bales. This is what the majority survive on, but action needs to be taken to address the potential risk of allowing the menace to go beyond Mbare suburb, especially the hostels,” Shumba said.
Mafume told NewsDay that ending the bed bug scourge demanded collaboration between council and residents of the affected areas.
“We ask residents to maintain a certain standard. We will continue with fumigation but the situation will relapse if people do not follow certain rules that they need to follow and we do hope that with continued education we will be able to come to a situation where it should not be a problem anymore,” Mafume said. NewsDay
