Cabinet tackles UZ water crisis

to deal with water problems  bedevilling the University of Zimbabwe.
Harare City Council and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority have come under fire for failing to ensure uninterrupted water supplies to the UZ so that the institution could open halls of residence to students next week.
Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mude-nge, yesterday said his ministry had done everything that was required to ensure that students could stay in the hostels when the UZ opens next week. This includes refurbishment of the hostels and transforming them into facilities “reminiscent of a five star hotel”. 
The smooth opening has, however, been stalled by the unavailability of water in the reservoir and full restoration of running water that would allow students to be admitted into halls of residence.
“However, there is an area we cannot control, that is the inability by the Harare City Council and Zinwa to provide water to the university. The reservoir is there, ready to receive water for the past three weeks. All the water we got from the City of Harare and Zinwa in the reservoir is about two metres instead of 10 metres. With 10 metres water you can go for three and half days, in case there is no normal flow of water from Emerald Hill,” said Minister Mudenge while addressing journalists in Harare yesterday.
“As the situation is at the moment, one, the reservoir is not full, two, there is very little water flowing at the university, it is trickling in. You can not support 4 300 students with water trickling in and the reservoir only two metres full.”
The minister said there was urgent need to ensure that the reservoir was full before Sunday.
“Unless these two issues are addressed, we will not take students into the halls of residence,” he said.
Minister Mudenge said his ministry would work with a Cabinet ministerial committee comprising, Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo, Water Resources Development and Management Minister Sam Sipepa Nkomo and Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma.
“The university has done everything, but cannot guarantee that there will be water. There has been a committee meeting of engineers from Harare city council, Zesa and my ministry since yesterday to address this issue,” he said.
“The issue has come before Cabinet and I am pleased to announce that there has been this Cabinet committee chaired by DPM Mutambara so that students can come on Sunday with confidence that there is running water and the reservoir is full.”
He said the water situation would affect learning and the students’ welfare as most of them do not live in Harare.
“That is totally unacceptable. We are hoping that the other ministries will take this as a matter of high priority so that we can provide water to more than 10 000 students who come to the university everyday,” he said.