Harare — PARENTS with children learning at Selbourne Routledge Primary School in Belvedere yesterday teamed up to clear illegal dumps near the schools.

The parents were forced to act after the City of Harare failed to remove the refuse that included used napkins, cotton wool, empty cans and other domestic waste being dumped near the school.

Residents of the area have been using the open space near the school to dispose of their waste at night, a development that saw the area exude a smell while exposing the children and staff at the school to risk of contracting cholera and dysentery.

Illegal dumps have been mushrooming near the school over the past five months as council failed to collect the rubbish.

One of the parents who spoke to The Herald, Mr Edward Gomba, said they had been forced to remove the dumps for fear of disease outbreaks.

"The dumps were too close to the school posing a health hazard to our children. As parents, a committee was put in place to see the removal of the dumps so that we make the environment safe for our children," he said.

Another parent, Mrs Martha Tholanah, said the move was in line with the International Day of Volunteers that will be celebrated this Friday.

Mounds of uncollected garbage have become a common sight in all the high-density suburbs in Harare raising fears of the resurgence of cholera that hit the country last year. The city fathers have been accused of doing nothing to avert the deadly disease which spreads like wild fire, especially during the rain season.

Already warnings have been issued that a cholera outbreak is imminent.