Friday, January 13, 2006

Vendors "victimized" by ban

LINK
Human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe on Thursday slammed the authorities' closure of a popular Harare fruit and vegetable market on public health grounds, saying informal vendors were being victimised.Earlier this week, Harare's state-appointed commission which has replaced the opposition-led council, announced the closure of Mbare Musika market amid reports of increasing cases of cholera in Zimbabwe. Fourteen people have already died from the disease, three of them in Harare.

Mbare Musika is Harare's biggest outdoor market. Like many other parts of the capital, it is strewn with piles of uncollected rubbish.
The authorities said they were worried conditions at the market would contribute to the spread of cholera, a highly-infectious disease.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a statement that while the association appreciated public health concerns, the city's health crisis had been caused by "the commission's unlawful actions".
"The Harare commission has regrettably chosen to ignore their duty to repair malfunctioning waste disposal systems and omitted to remove refuse for many months, as is their duty under local legislation, by-laws and regulations, as well as under international human rights instruments," the statement read.

UMM>>>Cholera is spread via dirty water...
Dirty food can be cleaned with soap and water, and cooked...and it will be safe...
Hands can be washed with soap and water...
Cholera was wiped out in London by decent sewers and a decent water system...

Of course, considering that I spent all of yesterday in my bedroom wheezing because someone got tired of the smell of discarded garbage and rubbish in the vacant lot across the street and was burning it...so I guess we shouldn't criticize Zim for not collecting garbage....

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