OVER K2.5 million is needed for an overhaul rehabilitation of Shamabanse sewer pipes that have been eaten up by rust due to old age thereby causing an overflow of sewer effluent, Lukanga Water Supply and Sanitation (LgWSC) Kabwe Branch Manager Edward Sakala has said. 

Mr Sakala said that Shamabanse sewer is being used by various households in Lukanga Township, Pollen Township, Maketani area, part of the Central Business District (CBD) and part of Nkrumah.

He however, pointed out that over the years the sewer pipes that had been piping the effluent from households to the pond were doing the needful with challenges due to the leakages in the areas that had become weak due to the passing time without any rehabilitation.

Mr Sakala said that it was prudent that something amicable was done to ensure the problem over the leakages was buried.

He stated that since LgWSC took over the running of the sewer ponds and other water facilities from the Kabwe Municipal Council in the district in 2006 pipes remained without any replacement.

Mr Sakala said that inventive measures had been put in place in an attempt to arrest the problem by drafting proposals aimed at finding resources towards the rehabilitation of Shamabanse ponds but none of the proposal received a positive response.

He said that the Bill of Quantity that had been for the works at the start of 2019 was pegged at K2.5 million, an amount he cited was expected to have shot upwards due to the passing of time.

“That pipe does not only serve Shamabanse, it covers even the industrial area, Pollen, Maketani (part of town), Lukanga, Mpima and part of Nkrumah while the pipes from the CBD, the effluent in those areas goes to the area near the Rail Line,” Mr Sakala said.

He stated that in most instances when the emission flows from households when they reach a certain point they backflow.

Mr Sakala said that LgWSC team has placed a programme which would involve the retrieving of about 15 pipes, about 9 metres each in Makululu Township to cover about 140 metres portion that had been eaten up by rust and other gasses that were flowing along with the seepage.

He said that the replacing of the pipes with wholes would be an ideal as this would allow the run-off flow in the pipes from the households to the ponds.

“I have been with LgWSC for almost eight years now and I must re-affirm that the Shamabanse pipeline I think from the time it was installed during the Council time it has never been rehabilitated, it is the reason it has some challenges, thus why it has some gas in certain areas and it has given up, there are openings,” he said.

Mr Sakala said that it was unfortunate that the overflowing effluent had for a number of times given the company a slight headache on how to end the stench in the nearby households, hence the need for stakeholders to get involved.

He said it would be of great essence that measures such as those highlighted in the submitted proposals were put in place but hinted that, that would be a dream comes true only after funds had been put together.

Mr Sakala said that the residents around Shamabanse were now taking advantage of the blockages to use sewer water for molding blocks for their households and other constructions.

He said other residents were instead using the space when answering to the call of nature while those into gardening activities were getting the effluent and used it as manure for their crop.

Mr Sakala said that there were vegetable gardens near the pipes that had given up and that residents were seemingly geared not to abandon their gardening activities as they felt encouraged by the discharge.

He said that despite efforts put to barricade the residents from accessing the pipes nothing tangible was coming out as placards and metallic bars that had been planted along were not good enough to scare away the residents.

Mr Sakala said that LgWSC Management had too tipped President Edgar Lungu when he recently came to Kabwe about the predicament.

“It is not only the rehabilitation but we want to do, also we need to do the expansion. We tried to put rubbers outside the pipes but things were not working as people were removing them, so now we need a GI type of metal since we have Asbestos Cement and estimated amount for the works was at K2.5 million early last year but this time due to the dollar having gone up it may be a bit more,” he said.