BY JOHN CHRISMA – FREELANCE
LOCAL market vendors are very concerned about the lack of quality water and sanitation due to the closure of the water supply and ablution block facility at the designated Kukum Market in Honiara.
The vendors’ grave concern was expressed amidst a year of closure to the water and sanitation facility by the officers from the Honiara City Council (HCC) Health Division last year.
Woman vendor, Ms. Jocelyn Maria said my knowledge about the closure of the market’s public ablution blockage was based on septic blockage and renovation work to be carried out by the responsible authority but since then nothing has been done by until now.
“The public toilet rooms are no longer in use and the water source supplied by the Solomon Islands Water Authority (SIWA) is also not available. The current situation is inhumane and has now caused a lot of health risks and problems for both vendors and customers of the Kukum market,” Maria said.
Ms. Maria said the Honiara City Council has denied our basic human rights to essential water and sanitation.
“We are humans; we need water to drink and survive and also for flushing our toilet wastes at the market; otherwise we have to spend quite a lot of money on bus fares to go back to our homes when nature calls (human waste disposal).
“The current situation of the market is unbearable and condition is very unhealthy; it is quite frustrating to witness on the daily basis, the HCC tax collectors going around to collect an amount of $40.00 per table (market fees) without considering a lasting solution to provide adequate water supply and quality sanitation for us,” she added
Maria said vendors have to spend a lot of money on drinking water every day, whilst doing their sales and marketing of their produce at the Market.
“We have to spend $20 to $50 every day for a bottle of drinking water, which is very expensive for us.
“At the moment, we urgently appeal to the responsible authority to immediately consider resolving our problem as soon as possible,” the woman vendor said.