By CATHERINE NYIRENDA  –

KELVIN Siame, a wheel barrow pusher is daily found at Lusaka’s Old Soweto Market waiting to be given alms by his peers because he is unable to work due to his fractured arm.
He fractured his arm when he was trying to rescue his friend who was partially buried in a collapsed makeshift pit latrine at the same market.
This was when his friend was answering the call of nature.
“It is by the grace of God that my friend survived the accident. I was determined to ensure that he does not sink deep in the waste and die there, that is why  I ended up having a fracture,” recounts Kelvin.
Kelvin, who is 27 years old, said he held his friend firmly to avoid being buried alive, but in the process his hand got stuck and fractured by the falling debris.
However, this was a second incident in the recent past, where a person was trapped in a collapsing makeshift pit latrine at Old Soweto Market.
Arnold Phiri, a trader, was completely buried in the human excreta for 40 minutes before he was rescued by fellow traders.
“I don’t remember much of what happened because I had passed out the moment the pit latrine collapsed, but after I was rescued, I regained my conscious, I just found myself covered in human excreta and feeling body pains, then I realised the makeshift lavatory collapsed on me,” Mr Phiri said.
Despite these reported incidents of Mr Phiri, Kelvin, and several other traders falling prey to the collapse of pit latrines, trading has, however, continued at the market without proper water and sanitation.
The Old Soweto Market has been in existence for more than 20 years, with more than 3, 000 traders.
This part of Soweto is where farmers from various parts of the country bring their produce to sell at either retail or wholesale price.
Some hotels, lodges, guesthouses, households, restaurants, and individuals buy the greens and other food items from there because they are believed to be cheaper.
With the service this market provides to the more than 5, 000 consumers that daily pass through, it does not have public lavatories apart from the makeshift pit latrines and one disused blocked and chocked lavatory.
In the absence of such facilities, some traders use what are locally known as ‘flying toilets.’
This is where traders use plastic bags and empty packs of locally brewed opaque beer to answer the call of nature and later dump them at the heaps of garbage at the market thus polluting and contaminating the area.
The situation is pathetic when the garbage is not collected on time, thus producing a stench that no man can stand, but surprisingly trading has continued.
The dumping of ‘flying toilets’ is mostly done at night because people are scared to use the pit latrines during that time.
The situation is worse in the rainy season when a number of diarrhoea cases are recorded.
Market secretary Mike Nyimbere says the market came into existence in 1997 when farmers began to come from various places to sell their produce to marketeers in the city.
“Initially, we used to sell our produce from the area where the new Soweto Market but we were relocated to this area in 2004 to pave way for the construction of the new market.
After the new market was completed, Mr Nyimbere claims most traders could not go back to the market for fear of high market levies charged by the Lusaka City Council (LCC).
“Since 2004, we have been trading without public conveniences. This forced traders to improvise pit latrines to help themselves, while they conduct their business at the market,” Mr Nyimbere said.
He says, an ablution block that was constructed sometime back is blocked as it could not sustain the huge volume of traffic of the traders and consumers at the market.
LCC assistant public relations manager Mulunda Habeenzu said in an interview that the market is illegal because the local authority does not recognise it.
“The trading area is not recognised by the council and, therefore, there is very little that the council could do to resolve the issue,” Mr Habenzu said.
He, however, could not explain why the council has allowed the people continue trading at an illegal area which is not even conducive.
Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) public relations officer Topsy Sikalinda said the water utility company could not service the area because it is illegal.
“The mere fact that old Soweto market is not recognised, LWSC has no obligation to deliver services to the area, the same applies to unplanned townships in Lusaka,” Mr Sikalinda said.
Zambia Environmental Management Authority public relations officer Irene Chipili challenged the council to take full responsibility of the situation at the market and other unplanned settlements to avoid further contamination of ground water.
She said the contamination of the ground water would have a negative impact on the health of the people and the environment is not properly managed.
“ZEMA recommends that LCC should enforce the Public Health Order Act for such areas to safeguard the lives of the people and the environment,” she said.
Kanyama Member of Parliament Gerry Chanda described the move by traders to continue selling at the unrecognised area as anarchy and called on the LCC to take charge of the situation as required by the laws of Zambia.
Old Soweto Market is situated in Kanyama Constituency.
He said the LCC should engage the traders to either move or legalise the market by providing the necessary services like collection of garbage and provision of public lavatories and safe drinking water.
“The tendency by people to occupy unplanned area should not be allowed to continue in the country as this is compromising a lot of things such as contamination of ground water, which most people in Lusaka rely on for their livelihood.
This has made Old Soweto Market a public health hazard and one of the most unsafe places to do business.
Making this open market a safe place to work and shop should be the prerogative of the Lusaka City Council—the agency with a public health mandate to protect the capital and its residents.
Old Soweto Market raises two fundamental human rights issues, which include the right to safe drinking water and sanitation and the right to a safe working environment into sharp focus.
It also lays the responsibility for intervention at the feet of the council, the water utility company and, to a larger extent, the State.
Against this background, the council should implement the law or correct the situation before lives are lost.