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Siavonga residents complain over contaminated water

OLIVER SAMBOKO writes

@SunZambia

RESIDENTS of Kabyobyo and some parts of Matinangala compound on the shores of Lake Kariba in Siavonga are exposed to drinking contaminated water with faecal matter from fishing and house boats.

The residents complained that the water they drew from the lake was unsafe because of the contamination caused by the by fishermen who habitually defecate in water as they carried on their fishing business.

The residents also accused house boat operators in the area of disposing faecal matter on the lake without due regard to health risks they caused to the residents.

“It’s common for fishermen to leave a toilet at their homes, walk to the lake to answer the call of nature and also the house boat operators dispose waste on the lake without regard to our health,

“This habit must stop because they are putting our lives in danger of contracting diseases,” said one of the residents Mike Silumba.

Mr. Silumba called the local authority to pass a by-law that would bar defecation and disposal of faecal matter into the lake.

He said most people in the area were not connected to the Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO) water network and depended on the lake for their water needs hence the need for formulation of a by-law to protect the residents from drinking polluted water.

Siavonga has no central sewer ponds and as a result all waste from residential and lodges along the shore ended up in the lake.

Late last year, Kariba town based environmentalist, Tobias Mawawo said that in next 25 years’ time, Lake Kariba would be polluted to an extent where the water in the man-made lake would not be fit any more for human or animal consumption due to contamination from human activities.

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