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Subscribe to RSSResidents of Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, are being asked to flush their toilets at the same time, in a move city officials hope will unblock sewers following days of severe water rationing, the BBC reported.
The Bulawayo City Council has asked its more than 1 million residents to flush their toilets simultaneously at 7:30 p.m. when water supplies are restored. City officials say "synchronized flushing" is needed to clear waste that would have accumulated in sanitary facilities that will have been affected by days of water outages.
Residents can go without running water for three days at a time, the BBC reported.
Bulawayo's two main supply dams have been drying up because of drought conditions prevailing in the arid, southwestern part of Zimbabwe, raising fears of worsening water shortages before the rainy season starts in November.
According to the BBC, the first synchronized flushing took place Monday. City workers had warned residents they risked a fine if they didn't participate.
"I made sure my wife and children flushed the toilet at 19:30 to avoid blocking our own toilet. So far, the flushing of toilets was a success here in Cowdray Park township," Dumisani Mpofu told the BBC.
The lack of water in the system has led to a build-up that's causing sewer pipes to burst all over the city, according to NewZimbabwe.com. The city plans to have the synchronized flush at the same time twice a week - on Mondays and Thursdays.
The proposal was met with skepticism by some residents.
"I don't think the exercise will be a success because when the flushing comes at 7:30, many townships would be without water," Bulawayo United Residents Association chairman Winos Dube told the BBC.
"Our leaders are a joke," Petros Ncube told the BBC, adding: "What they should be doing is finding money from donors to buy new sewer pipes."
Synchronized flushing was first introduced to Bulawayo two decades ago at the height of a drought that ravaged the southern African nation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Find money from donors. isnt that rich.have we cut off our yearly welfare check to another african nation god forbid they take care of themselves.
The story a bit too complicate for you or did you not read it before posting? Either way, you post is drivel and your mind is cluttered.
Nowhere in the article is there a request for funds. Read the story & post about the story as it's classless, pointless & adds nothing to the conversation when you hijack the thread to insert your own agenda. Don't make up crap that isn't in the article. It has a trollish& churlish ring to it.
From the story:
@arguesforsport, that was a quote from an opinionated resident and not a statement about whether or not the city leaders are seeking funds for repairs.
What difference is it going to make if the 4 working toilets are flushed at the same time?
Um... Isn't it possible that the synchronized flushing will actually have the opposite effect and there will be some... how do we say it nicely?..."toilet back-up"?
Too bad a synchronized flush couldn't dislodge Mugabe, speaking of obstructions and turds!
I can't believe that flushing both functioning toilets in the city will actually accomplish anything. Worth a try I guess
I'm skeptical about the wisdom of the sychronized flushing being done when they acknowledge there are broken sewer pipes all over the City. The waste is going to go out into the soil where the pipes are broken which can't be a "good thing".
The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has spent over $180 million on his last three birthday parties. That money, as well as Mugabe himself, should have been thrown at the outdated sewer system, as well as the intermittent water supply.
Blacks are technological wizards and this showcases their technology at its best!
I knew a black Cobol programmer who was a wiz actually. He had worked near death in diamond mines in South Africa and was happy to live in America. I think you are confusing poverty and stupidity. He was poor in Africa and you are.... well, you know.
A friend of mine in grad school was from Zimbabwe, he was studying computational mathematics. The color of his skin did not seem to have any effect on his work.
Wow, justvisiting, wow.
How 19th century of you.
justvisiting,
Okay, pack a couple changes of clothes. We're going to haul your ass off to one of western ghost towns on the fringe of a dessert, strip you of computers and smart phones, and give you and some 50000 similar bitchers $200 each. Now you genii figure out your plumbing issues (both fresh water and sewage), roads, FOOD (where most of your money will go) and medical care. And then figure out where your future income will be generated. Does that situation sound so great?
These people live under a systemic oligarchy. The Mugabe's pay the Army well enough to keep them in power; break up farms, giving land to people who don't know how to farm; take the lion's share of the nation's income for themselves to indulge any and all personal desires; and leave a largely uneducated country to fend for itself. Sound like your recent exile?
And this is not the only city, or country, in this condition. Some try to help themselves and are slowly improving. Others try, but literally have no tools. And finally there are those resigned after decades of domination to repeating the same problems. Think Haiti.
And yes, I was galled by the calls to find "donors", but then I remembered that virtually every town and city in the United States has gone to the great Federal "donor" to repair or replace its aging sewer system.
The United Flush of Zimbawe. Probably will need a flag.
I know this- They need to flush the toilets at the same time down in Tampa a few weeks back! Flush that Sh!t outta there.
Actually we did flush....right after the end of the GOP Convention, and as it is uphill to the Oval Office in the WH we flushed 3 times. Happy to see it successfully landed there and the POTUS Obama is out "re-distributing" the honey to all his Liberal Lemmings.
If Mugabe is taking a shower when they flush all the toilets, it'd be just like that prank we used to do when I was in the Navy. Works even better if the person in the shower has sunburn on their back.
Response sent to Editor
Dear Editor
With regard to your above recent editorial, I believe that we are in an excellent position to assist with the drainage problems experienced in Bulawayo. I have attached a presentation for your consideration and if appropriate for you to forward to those responsible. It might be a solution that you can track and report. Flusher would certainly prove to be a far cheaper and much more reliable solution than twice weekly coordinated toilet flushing.
Regards
David G. Pitt
Tel: +44 (0)1702 421390
Fax: +44 (0)1702 421070
Mob: +44 (0)7872 025380
Noticepride Ltd., t/as INFOTEC or INFOTEC CONSULTING;
Hope they told everyone to put their waders on prior to flush.
Meanwhile, a Jewish center in Malmo, Sweden, home to one of the most virulent European Muslim communities, was firebombed. Did it make the news on nbc? No. Just flushing toilets in Zimbabwe.
Oh,hell.Now THIS will be an olympic event!
To the uneducated.
Money has no value other than the peace of paper you get from the tree. In other words its value is an artificial one forced upon the world by those bent on enslaving it. Europe and America is only doing 'well' because of the plundering of Africa's wealth along with the rest of the 'third' world, both in terms of the people resources and the other natural resources. However have no fear, for evil is utterly self destructive. If one decides to hold on to the evil one will certainly go down with it.