The conflict issue in Chivi, Nyamakwe is water pollution from two main businesses: fast food outlet and night club at Chibi Turn Off. There was an estimated distance of 241 meters of waste following into the river, which is a deadly hazard to the health of the community. The community uses the river for washing, drinking and for their livestock. When ADZT initiated dialogue on this conflict, cases of children suffering from water borne diseases had been recorded. The issue had been raised before by the Councillor, the Ward 26 Development Committee and some concerned community members who wrote a complaint letter to the local Environmental Management Authority (EMA) but nothing had been done to address the issue by Dec 2013.
ADZT, through sustained dialogue in 2014 managed to identify key stakeholders to the issue of conflict and brought them together to discuss the future of Nyamakwe. The dialogue was concluded through a multistakeholder meeting where EMA, Health, Chief, Councilors, Min. of Youth amongst other stakeholders were invited to conclude the issue. This was done through drama, solidarity messages from relevant authorities and community participation. Chicken Express was given a timeframe for them to construct sewers which will be monitored by the district health personnel.
Dimension of the Environmentalists
Development is not to be perceived as a permanent state, but rather as a continuing process that implies the integration of the three essential and inseparable aspects of development: the Environmental, Economic and Social dimension. The construction of Chicken Express was positive development for Chivi as it created job opportunities, infrastructural development as well as an opportunity for the vendors to sell their products to passengers on buses who stop at Chicken Express. Unfortunately, Chicken Express was not environmentally viable because of the pollution caused by poor refuse system. EMA made several attempts to engage the businessman through warning letters which were not responded to, leading them to closing the food outlet until a proper sewer system was developed.
Air pollution
Another issue was of air pollution emanating from a parking space that was created for haulage trucks by one of the business owners at Chibi Turn off Business Centre. It was alleged that the Business owner was charging 3 US for parking by the haulage trucks. However a lot of dust was emanating from this parking space posing a serious health hazard to other small businesses, consumers, villagers and others visiting the business centre. The ground was not prepared for haulage parking as there are no concrete stones or plastering. The meeting proposed that the business operators need to put concrete stones or use a water sprinkler to reduce dust. This presented another challenge that needed engagement between the community leaders, local businesses, council and health. Community through the councilor needed to gather facts on this issue and document the findings for use in the next levels of engagement.
Employment bias
Biased and corrupt employment procedures disregarding local job seekers, emerged as another conflict created by the establishment of the food court. Chicken Express (which was one of the businesses cited as having employed people from outside the community) had sent a call for vacancies through the councilor which he in turn had advertised widely. The locals were not given priority during recruitment, people were employed form outside breaching the agreement that they had made with the community during its inception. Therefore the community feels they’re not beneficiaries from this development rather they are just suffering from the two pollutions cited above.
Conclusion
The concept of sustainable development is based on a political and ethical principle. This principle implies that the social and economical dynamics of modern economies are compatible both with the improvement of life conditions and the ability of natural resources to reproduce (regenerate) in an indefinite manner which in this case the food court in Chivi failed to meet.