Annual report of the Director, Medical & Health Department / Colony of Mauritius.

  • Mauritius. Medical and Health Department
Date:
[1947]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Director, Medical & Health Department / Colony of Mauritius. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/52 page 20
    37. In the Municipal area of Port Louis progress is slow and it may not be out of place to quote a statement made in 1944 which reads as follows— “ The salient features of the present sanitary services of the Municipality are : (a) inefficient street scavenging due in large measure to lack of water for street cleansing ; r (b) lack of cleaning and maintenance of storm water drains ; (c) mosquito breeding in water containers in back yards and ‘other private premises and in garden ponds which are maintained owing to lack of a constant water supplv ; (d) sewers so charged that they cannot take all waste water from industrial premises, the fulness of the sewers being clue in no small degree to the quantity of waste water entering them from leaking taps, broken pipes and faulty fittings ; (e) mosquito breeding in pools caused by leaking taps and pipes and “ regards ”; . (f) failure to enforce sanitary by-laws, due in part to lack of supervision by the Municipality and to the division of responsibility between the Municipality and the Government department. ” “ Reflection will show that the cause of (a), (b) and (c) is water shortage, while the conditions described in (d) and (e) are due largely to water wastage. ” 38. In Curepipe the Board of Commissioners has appointed a Senior Health Inspector responsible for all sanitary services in the area of the Township, the emoluments of the post being provided in equal parts by Government and the Board. The services of this officer, who has a wide experience as a Sanitary Inspector in England and in India, should result in modernising the services of which lie is in charge and in instructing the junior personnel in modern methods. The Senior Health Inspector works in close co-operation with the Medical Officer of Health of the district, who, as part of his many duties, acts as adviser on health matters to the Townships in Plaines Wilhems. Remarkable progress has been made in the townships of Quatre Bornes and Beau Bassin-Rose Hill. In both of these, scavenging by contract has been replaced by direct services. In the case of the former the old hand carts have been replaced by modern freighters and the refuse is composted on a neighbouring estate, while the latter township will follow suit in 1948. So far as scavenging is concerned these townships now serve as a model of street cleansing. 39. In rural areas the collection and disposal of refuse which is perfo.med by contract leaves much to be desired. The appointment of Civil Commissioners and the development of Village Councils should help to develop in rural communities a sense of civic responsibility without which efforts to raise the standard of cleanliness are a thankless task. It is the intention in the coming year to abolish the contract
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