How 'litterbugs' elude fcc by-law officers

PINI BOTHOKO
Correspondent | Saturday May 11, 2013 00:00

During the day, the by-law enforcement officers keep a close eye on hard pressed offenders who dodge into secluded corners, drop their pants to dump their obnoxious excrements.Principal by-law technician at the Francistown Council (FCC), Puso Mosimanewakgosi, said they are up to their necks in the malodorous stinking rubbish.'Usually people help themselves late in the evening and at night when we have knocked off because we find human waste in the morning when patrolling, he said, adding that as the FCC they have talked to business operators especially those who operate shops to have toilets for their customers.He added: 'Everyday our officers go on patrol around the city, if found doing such a thing you will be fined P300. Failure to pay will result in one being sent to court to answer for such an offence.

Mosimanewakgosi said usually when people are arrested they complain that they do not have money to pay for public toilets as all of council toilets have been privatised.'Even these toilets are not enough in the city, I think there is a need for them to be increased especially in areas where there are no public toilets at all. 'It is the duty of the council to build public toilets. It is just that nowadays the government is outsourcing everything to the public to empower them, ' he said. Mosimanewakgosi has called on the public to reframe from polluting the environment because it is not just against the law, but it also has the effect of making the city unsightly. He encouraged the public to always ask for toilets in government offices rather than polluting the environment.Meanwhile, it seems the elusive offenders have a penchant of ducking behind secluded corners of popular buildings in the city where they deposit their waste.

It is not uncommon to find a person (men being the main culprits) sticking to a wall of one of these buildings, especially along Blue Jacket and Haskins Streets, urinating. Parallel to these streets, which are from north to south, or vice versa, are passages, which some people use to avoid jostling with other shoppers. These people endure a stinking atmosphere and  unsightliness of the passages due to human waste. Apparently, with a few FCC subsidised public toilets being rented out by some Batswana at a reasonable price, what is shocking is that the city continues to be dirty of human waste. A nominal fee of P1 is all the operators, especially those adjacent  toBancABC, charge, but with the ever presence of faecal materials in these corners, could it be that the culprits could be aware of challenges facing the bye-law enforcement in the city?

Francistown is the second city of Botswana after Gaborone, but what a disgrace it can be at times. When asked if they are aware of the situation the principal by-law technician Mosimanewakgosi said they are aware of the situation and they are working hard to control the situation.Meanwhile the city's mayor, James Kgalajwe, said he was also aware of this situation and that the Department of by-law enforcement was the one empowered to take violators to task.Some members of the public called for sterner measures against these noxious offenders. One such person is 34-year-old Doreen Thabologo who said for the sake of saving the environment, such people should be arrested.Even Lesego Kaisara (28) said such people are lazy to walk long distances and that is why they would rather squat anywhere or stand by an electricity pole to relieve themselves.'I think there is a need for council to increase public toilets in the city,' she advised.