THE Zimbabwe Cabinet has approved the implementation of Eaziflush Sanitation Technology for Waste Management in Peri-urban and Rural Communities, which was presented by the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, as the Acting Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Social Services and Poverty Eradication.
Staff Reporter
Briefing Journalists during a post cabinet media briefing, Information minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said, “Government wishes to get rid of open pit latrines, implement alternative innovations suitable for transforming rural communities with respect to the provision of clean water and improved sanitation.
Government is taking a deliberate position to provide modern, sustainable, and affordable infrastructure in both urban and rural communities. It is highlighted that Vision 2030 speaks to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 6 which seeks to “Ensure availability and Sustainability of the Management of Water and Sanitation for all.”
She added that some innovation have been developed and the Eaziflush programme may be funded through the Schools Development Associations, the Constituency Development Fund, Devolution Funds or donor participation.
“The nation is advised that the Eaziflush Sanitation Technology is an innovation that seeks to ameliorate the challenges occasioned by the need to improve hygiene practices on open defecation in these peri-urban and rural communities. The technology which uses two (2) litres of water per flush, compared to the seven (7) to nine (9) litres used by the conventional system, will convert the existing pit latrine infrastructure. This will reduce construction costs for new ablution facilities by up to eighty (80) percent.
“Cabinet acknowledges that the adoption and implementation of the Eaziflush Sanitation Technology will go a long way in reducing the transmission of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, diarrhoea, dysentery, and cholera, which result from lack of adequate sanitation facilities. The project will be implemented in phases beginning with rural schools and clinics. It will then be cascaded to homesteads once the concept has been demonstrated and popularized. Presently, the technology is already installed and being piloted at Glenwood Primary School in Epworth and has proved to be effective, functional and user-friendly in terms of applicability and cost.”
