The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has no permanent solution to the perennial smoke emissions at the Richmond landfill, popularly known as Ngozi Mine owing to the lack of requisite machinery to compress metals, which are sought after by people who start fires.
The fires are always accompanied by smoke which has become a health hazard to residents of Cowdray Park, which is a few kilometres from the dump site.
When a CITE news crew visited the most affected area in Cowdray Park, popularly known as Kuma Four on Monday residents said their health was at risk, adding their engagements with the local authority have not yielded any positive results.
“We have a serious problem of smoke here and it’s like Cowdray Park is now part of Ngozi Mine,” said Simon Moyo.
“We are now coughing; there are just flies all over and I believe BCC should take action and move the dumpsite away from this residential area.”
Edna Bahle Nyakupinda said they feared getting respiratory diseases as a result of breathing in polluted air and called upon BCC to come to their rescue.
Nyasha Ngundu implored the local authority to do something about their situation, which he said was very undesirable.
Mbusi Ndlovu, another resident, also called for action from the City Council.
Ward 28 (Cowdray Park) councillor, Kidwell Mujuru, told CITE he was aware of the challenge facing residents in his area but was quick to point out that the local authority had a challenge of compactors.
He acknowledged that the health of residents, especially those asthmatic, himself included, was at very high risk.
