Uma abordagem sobre os problemas de saneamento e seus efeitos sobre os moradores do bairro de Xipamanine

Abstract

This study focuses on environmental sanitation problems in the Xipamanine neighborhood, in Maputo city, from the perspective of interrelating the factors that dictate the current state of health and the respective impacts on residents of this neighborhood. The sanitation of the environment is one of the biggest urbanization problems in the city of Maputo. Thus, in the work, the physiographic and socio-economic aspects of the study area are presented as antecedents, after indicating the methodology. The fundamental methods used are bibliographic consultation, semi-structured interviews and survey. To assess the impacts, a “check-list” of the main components of sanitation was made on one side and the effects on health on the other. The main finding of this investigation is that sanitation in Xipamanine is deficient to such an extent that residents consider Xipamanine as the dirtiest neighborhood in DU n°2, due to two sets of highly interrelated factors: the first comprises general facts of the city of Maputo as population growth disproportionate to the provision of basic urban services and shortcomings in intersectoral coordination; the second comprises local factors in Xipamanine such as the high water table, population and building density, and the low socio-economic level of the residents, which together hinder household and neighborhood sanitation in general. The impacts of these factors are summarized in the contamination of the soil and the water table by different garbage, health risks for the residents and a lack of care for the local environment.