Zim to roll out flushable rural Blair toilet scheme

By Staff Writer

THE government has set plans to transform Blair and pit toilets into flushable systems under its rural waste management programme tailored to improve rural sanitation.

This was said by National Housing and Social Amenities minister Daniel Garwe at a joint conference on Urban Development Corporation Projects (UNDCORP) and UDCORP Transformation Strategy Convenors this week.

The programme is being implemented under the National Housing and Social Amenities ministry and that of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development.

“We have … come up with a rural waste management programme which we are going to be launching pretty soon in all the 10 provinces which transforms the country in the rural communities from the use of Blair toilets, pit latrins into flushable systems.

“This is the trajectory that we are in. We want to ensure that no place and no one is left behind in household delivery,” Garwe said.

According to statistics, 70 percent of the population lives in rural areas with 60 percent vulnerable to open defecation.