CANAL FOR THE VILLAGE?
Posted July 9th, 2008 by Anonymous
Three children aged between 6 and 10 are playing football almost at the edge of the open canal of the sewage system. They do not seem bothered by the bad smell that comes out of the dirty canal. The probability of their ball falling into the open dirty canal is high. When this happens they insert their hands into the canal to pick up the ball. This is Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
These kinds of open canals are found in many parts of the city. The canals were built to flow rainwater and wastewater. Some villagers use the canal as a place for disposing of household trash. And in other canals you can also see plastic bottle, leftovers of fruits or paper bags. These and other materials block the proper flow of the canal water, flooding nearby roads. In the dry season the canal gives off a very bad smell and many people are exposed to common cold and other related diseases.
The other problem is the lack of responsible persons for the canal. Kebeles (local administration offices) occasionally order the residents to clean up the canal. However, there is no regular clean up program or schedule and no one is held accountable for the cleaning.
The health of both children and adults can be improved when we keep our household and nearby area clean. Some people near one of the canals covered the top of the canal with a metal sheet or a wood and put soil on it to plant flowers. This helped them to protect to some extent their canal from being a dumping ground for garbage and other waste materials and the bad smell that comes along with it.
By Frezer Mengesha
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