Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
ONE of Bulawayo’s flagship company, United Refineries Limited has been forced to halt production due to acute water shortage in the city.
Bulawayo has been facing one of its worst water crisis in years with some areas no longer getting water at all.
In a statement on Tuesday, the company said it had to take the hard decision as it have had no water for a prolonged period.
“We regret to inform our customers, suppliers and stakeholders that we have had limited water supplies to our factory for the last seven days and the situation has not improved.
As a result we have had to temporarily suspend our factory operations as we await the situation to normalise, “the company announced.
URL chief executive officer Mr Busisa Moyo said the company cannot operate on borehole water as a means to compliment council water supply.
“We have seven boreholes and they are dry. We have considered it impractical to think we can run a plant that needs 150,000 litres per day on boreholes. We would run the water table dry for the surrounding community,” he said.
“We continue to engage Bulawayo City Council with regard to returning the situation to normality. We are aware this is happening as we prepare for the festive season stocking programmes and promotions.”
Bulawayo has been dogged by a serious water shortage that has seen the local authority limiting water supplied to limited places only. However, in its provisional water supply restoration schedule, BCC highlights that industry, mines, and the Central Business District are exempted on all days, albeit some companies complaining that council has been lying.
@NyembeziMu
Bongani Ndlovu