Dog shit: Someone must take responsibility

Those who frequent Salmin Armour Road situated at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre will share my disgust at the sickening sight of dog shit on the street that needs the immediate consideration of whoever is responsible.

The problem, mostly experienced by pedestrians, has gone on for years without anyone paying the slightest attention to the nuisance the filth causes or how it can be addressed.

In the end, the dog shit has become a standing feature on the road to the annoyance of the pedestrians who have to stand the nauseating sight and the appalling smell that accompanies it.

At first, I thought it was the city council’s responsibility to clean all dirt from the roads, but from what I see, the street cleaners are selective on the kind of dirt they deal with.

They will sweep the litter that irresponsible citizens throw willy-nilly—that is the plastic papers, bottles or banana peels. They will take care of every other form of dirt, save for the shit which is left to take care of itself, I guess.

Thus for days, heaps of dog shit will lie on the swept road, only to be brushed off by unsuspecting motorists and pedestrians whose tyres and shoes take away bits and pieces of the shit that sticks to them as they move on the road.

Yet, if road users were asked what kind of litter they would choose to remain on the roads, many would rather look at the plastic papers and bottles than the disgusting substance that is ignored by the cleaners.

Then, I thought that maybe those who walk dogs on this road would come to their senses and realise the difficulty they are causing to hundreds of people who use the street.

There is a security company down the road whose dogs are mostly responsible for the mess on the street and one would think that after operating the business for a long time, those working for the company would have noted the mess the security dogs are causing on the road; but alas, they too are ignoring the problem.

All they know is feed the dogs and move them around while the animals are left to do as they please on the roads.

But many road users—the people whose tax not only pays the city cleaners, but also maintains the roads—are fed up with this disorder that has been left unattended for rather too long.

It is about time the Blantyre City Council seriously looked into the matter and, in liaison with the security company in question, find a lasting solution to this mess.

Otherwise, walking on this street has become a dreaded experience for people who have no business whatsoever with the dogs that muddle up the road.

Someone must take responsibility and ensure that the road remains clean for the comfort of all its users.