The sight of someone urinating in an open space by the road side gives a glimpse of how most people do not care where they dump their human waste.
The cities of Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu are smelly cloaks of shame.
For example, Blantyre central business district reeks of urine, with people urinating anywhere anytime despite the presence of paying toilets worth K150 to K200 per user.
The public washrooms were meant to keep the city sanitary, but seldom serve the intended purpose.
Around noon on Thursday, we saw how vendors and passers-by, particularly men, unzip and urinate in open spaces along the sidewalk at Mibawa Bus Terminal.
Some of them wetted the sidewalk shortly after dropping off from minibuses.
Ironically, Blantyre City Council (BCC) has an environmental office near the toilet where the men were seen urinating.
Some people we talked to in Blantyre said they find the public toilets repulsive due to the foul smell from its soiled interiors. The facilities are also too expensive for them, said some people we interviewed.
Indeed, the stench i s overwhelming and only two out of four urinals are working at this specific facility where moth flies have found a pleasurable home.
The sink is filthy with a cracked mirror slightly above it and below it is a tiled floor so dirty you have to close your eyes to do your business.
Ironically, vendors sell different items, including fried meat and sausages, close to the stinking toilet.
“I pay K150 every time I go to the toilet; how much will I spend at the end of the day? It is better to go down the [Mudi] river on the other side,” said Emilda Kalipinde, who sells roasted maize at the minibus terminal.
Kalipinde said she clings to the smelly spot because it is ideal for her business “although the stench only gets stronger towards sunset” when she knocks off.
Mobile money vendor Agnes Bazilio said the smell worsens on weekends when the toilets are not cleaned.
“It is understandable that some people urinate in open spaces,” she said.
In Lilongwe, there are similar sights in public spaces, including Malangalanga and at Bus Depot near Lilongwe District Council offices.
The sanitation nightmare is worse in Mzuzu, particularly along the roads and pavements
. around the bus depot where food vendors ply their trade during evenings as people come to buy various items such as relish
Mzuzu City Council spokesperson McDonald Gondwe said yesterday that they have toilets in public places such as markets and depots, but there is a service fee attached; hence, most people do not want to use the toilets.
“The critical challenge is people resorting to relieving themselves on fences, trees and other undesignated places. They feel like the fee is not necessary when in essence it is meant to service the toilets,” he said.
The situation is also worrying district council officials.
Mulanje District Council chairperson Thokozani Namoyo said despite providing hygiene facilities in most public places, people still urinate in the open.
Phalombe District Counci l chairperson Lesten Kondwani said they experienced pressure in health facilities as the tendency led to widespread waterborne diseases in communities.
“We held health campaigns to promote hygiene and proper use of toilets. Now, we have erected about 10 toilets in public places, but still there are some people who are urinating in the open,” he said.
In Mangochi, vendors said the issue of public urination is also a nuisance in the municipality.
One said: “People go outside this market and urinate on the walls, leaving the toilets because the toilets are filthy.
“Some people also like to relieve themselves at places where they cannot pay anything.”
The escape from filthy toilets brings this question: How are councils using the money they get from pay toilets?
During a visit to Zomba Central Market, we saw people urinating behind a food shop and a stained fence of a colonial cemetery.
Jones Thawani, who sells electronic gadgets nearby, said the city needs sufficient toilets that customers and vendors can use.
Environmentalists and public health specialists say the situation poses serious threats to health and investment.
Water and Environmental Sanitation Network executive director Willie Mwandira said the scenario threatens realisation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) six.
SDG six aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation by 2030.
“As a country, one of our economic strategies focuses on tourism, so we need to make our cities clean and have good sanitary facilities so that visitors as well as those who do businesses in towns should have access to them”.
Head of public and environmental health at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences Professor Adamson Muula in a separate interview said open urination leads to seepage of urine into the soil and water bodies, which can have adverse effects.
He argued that this is as a result of filthy public restrooms and lack of enforcement of city by-laws.
“In some cities there are no public restrooms and at the same time there is also lack of community engagement and education and, of course, non-implementation of public health and city by-laws,” said Muula.
