Mozambique: Rua dos Lusíadas residents oppose siting of public toilets outside their homes – Carta

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Mozambique: Rua dos Lusíadas residents oppose siting of public toilets outside their homes – Carta

3:26 CAT | 16 Nov 2022

Image: Carta

The residents of Rua dos Lusíadas, in Polana Cimento “A”, a prime Maput neighbourhood, are opposing the construction of municipal public toilets near their homes, claiming that they may contaminate the water they use and increase the criminality which already blights the neighbourhood.

“It is with great dissatisfaction that we learned of the construction of public toilets in front of and a few metres away from our residences, which started without having previously consulted the residents or giving any kind of consideration,” a letter sent by residents to Maputo Municipal Council reads.

In conversation with ‘Carta’ this Monday, residents of Rua dos Lusíadas said that the undertaking would affect and disrupt their lives, their best interests and their peace, security and tranquillity. They point out that they will be forced to live with public toilets, of which not one good example is known in the city of Maputo when it comes to management or hygiene.

According to the residents, the construction of toilets in that location will create all the conditions necessary for the contamination of the public piped water network in their homes.

Residents also say that they already live under unacceptable conditions resulting from the ‘barracas’ in the Museu market, citing drug use, lack of cleanliness, prostitution and rape, and the construction of toilets in the location will only makes the situation worse.

“In the good fashion of the favelas in Brazil, we the residents are already obliged to sign agreements with the outlaws and criminals so that they don’t harm us, and in all of this we are always victims,” the residents complain.

Residents additionally claim that this is not the right place for public toilets, because, in addition to being opposite and only a few metres away from their homes and close to the Presidency of the Republic, this place is located between the Josina Machel Secondary School, the Maputo Commercial School and the Museum of Natural History.

“In this street, on rainy days, all the water, including that from the car washers, carries garbage into the residents’ homes, as all the gutters are obstructed by the works being carried out by the Municipal Council of Maputo,” residents allege.

Residents also say that they have already tried to talk to the Municipality, but it is not open to solving the problem, given that construction has already started and is moving apace, especially during the night.

According to some residents, in the past, Municipal Councillor Silva Magaia allegedly suggested to some Rua dos Lusiadas residents that they sell their properties to some Turks who wanted to do some real estate development. Most residents refused, and only one gave in and sold. Meanwhile, they claim that, as a way of putting pressure on them to leave, the Municipality has been ‘doing and undoing’ at will and claim that this is why it took the decision to build public toilets there, adding that, to their surprise, they merely received a notice of the start of the works from the head of the block [chefe de quarteirão].

Meanwhile, Councillor for Territorial Planning, Environment and Urbanization Silva Magaia acknowledged that the Maputo City Council had made a mistake by not having interacted with the residents of Rua dos Lusíadas, but said that the problems were being addressed.

“We are building those public toilets to put an end to the shame of mobile plastic toilets in the area, close to schools. We, as a municipality, are offering residents the opportunity to have modern toilets instead. We respect the concern of the residents and promise to pay due attention to the matters they raise,” Councillor Silva Magaia said.

“We have nothing against those residents; we just want to improve the conditions of public toilets,” he stressed .

By Marta Afonso

Source: Carta de Moçambique