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At a
time when people spend hours worrying about what should go
into their mouths, it may look cynical to talk about what
comes out of their bowels. But this issue, not often
discussed, is part and parcel of life and calls for
attention. If you have to buy food that you consume to keep
your soul and body together at any cost, then there is no
reason why you should not worry about matters of payment for
things that you defecate from them because that process,
too, is vital if you have to keep clean and live.
City
life in particular, requires that you deposit your waste in
a concrete septic tank, or connect your latrines to the
sewage system nearby. Although there could be a few
clandestine connections made here and there to drain the
liquid waste into the nearest river or public drainage, most
septic tanks, sooner or later, reach their holding capacity
and overflow, exposing their contents. Of course, not the
sweet smelling food consumed but the foul smelling sludge
disposed and accumulated over the years.
Considering the escalating price of oil, I think it is about
time, if not long overdue, that we seriously consider
producing biomass, or biogas, from these massive deposits.
Our
communal septic tank was full and oozing and had to be
emptied. Someone from our compound had to report this to the
Northern Branch Office of the Addis Abeba Water and Sewerage
Authority (AAWSA) located near the former Tafari Makonnen
School, along the Asfa Wossen Road. This old codger
volunteered to go on the mission.
Of
late, I have realized that there is extra virtue in being a
retired senior citizen. Apart from gainful employment in
some kind of consultancy, writing articles, having leisure
time for reading philosophical or religious books, or
parenting grandchildren, one can also voluntarily serve in
social associations and share companies, including in the
recently formed Consumers’ Associations.
The
clerk in charge of sewage matters received me with all the
courtesy of a civil servant who, from the look of things,
might have received his paycheck a few minutes prior to my
arrival. He was whistling and mumbling an inaudible song,
while making mobile phone calls. He looked up at me and told
me to wait for a little while, as the recording clerk would
show up any moment. He had gone into the next office to
fetch the revolving registration pad.
I had
to wait patiently for a good part of an hour for the clerk
who had disappeared. The waiting was testing my tolerance
and I got up and started walking up and down the corridor,
just to let off some steam. I wondered why they did not
place the registry clerk and the accountant side by side in
the same room. Are such mechanisms alien to the much talked
about rhetoric of improving civil service ideals?
Other
customers came by. We - customers of the same feather - had
to stay put and wait patiently until the clerk showed up.
Show up he did. He was panting as if he had been running to
make good of the time lost. He started scribbling and
filling in forms. Three of us were sent to the next office,
carrying the revolving registration pad.
A
couple of minutes later, we were led to the cashier’s
window, located at the back of the building. We had to pay
charges. I paid for three shuttles and was told to come back
after 6 days. Somebody else had to go - on an appointed day
- just to give them our specific address. This step could
have been skipped if they had simply asked me for it on the
very first day.
Two
days later, the dumping truck and crew showed up to empty
only one truck full of waste. I showed them the receipt for
the payment for three loads, but they would not budge an
inch. I had to make a number of telephone calls to get
matters cleared. Finally, I was able to get hold of Ato
Mesfin, the man responsible for assigning trucks to duty. He
was very prudent. He carefully explained the problem of a
shortage of dumping trucks until I was convinced. The three
shuttles were done within a fortnight, thanks to him. The
whole neighborhood is now fresh and clean.
Population growth and accelerated urbanization, particularly
the construction boom we are witnessing these days, tend to
disguise the crucial problems urban dwellers encounter on
the ground. The carrying capacity of Addis, or any city for
that matter, is limited. The city is failing to meet the
demands for additional amenities, be it water, electric
power, housing, or sanitation. I was told that the AAWSA
branch office has only two or three working trucks. This is
horrible. For the population residing within the northern
part of the capital, there should be at least two or three
dozen sewage trucks.
Good
governance and capacity building, I think, should also be a
part of these services. If improvement of public services
does not take into account the need for adequate sewage
services, which is very vital, then I cannot imagine what
improvement of services entails.
Sanitation is not only all about septic tanks and sludge
disposals. In many cases, the surface water overflow
drainage system leaves much to be desired, although this
issue perhaps involves another Authority. One particular
case in point is a cement electric pole that lies abandoned
in an open ditch (there could be several of them).
Water-borne debris and soil sediment blocks the cement duct,
thus preventing the surface water from flowing through.
And
what is the result? The carting away of all types and makes
of things, sometimes including dead fowls and cats, and
possibly even a few field rodents. The other day, I saw some
boys clearing vegetation and wild growth on the embankment
of a ditch and asked them if they could clear the duct.
“It is
none of our business,” was the reply I got from one of them.
“We are only paid to clear grass and weeds.”
Yes,
we know that the overflow of the downpour does a plausible
job in assisting the municipal street sweepers. However,
unless the ditches are cleared ahead of time, and unless the
community refrains from dumping dry waste in ditches, the
tarmac roads we enjoy would not only have a shorter
lifespan, but also be dumping grounds for trash silt. Not to
mention the perennial splashes of rainwater onto pedestrians
by inconsiderate drivers who seem to be simply amusing
themselves. Mercy is only exercised by the more mature
drivers. May God deliver us from such petty evils?
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