Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
THE Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has called for urgent intervention to address worsening pollution in Lake Chivero and said the environmental crisis has reached alarming levels and warrants being declared a state of national disaster.
Addressing journalists in Harare on Tuesday, CHRA programmes manager Mrs Mable Murambiwa said unchecked industrial effluent and raw sewage discharges into the capital’s water sources were threatening public health, increasing water treatment costs and compromising residents’ constitutional rights.
She said water pollution remained the most pressing environmental and public health challenge facing Harare and the Upper Manyame Catchment.
“The continued pollution of water sources continues to violate residents’ constitutionally guaranteed right to a clean environment as well as clean, safe and potable water as espoused under Sections 73 and 77 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” said Mrs Murambiwa.
She attributed the pollution to industries that continue discharging untreated effluent into municipal sewer systems without installing mandatory pre-treatment facilities as required under the Environmental Management Act, while persistent sewer failures in Crowborough, Firle and Chitungwiza had worsened the situation.
Mrs Murambiwa said CHRA’s research has revealed gaps in Zimbabwe’s water pollution control framework, including fragmented legislation, weak regulatory oversight, overlapping institutional mandates, poor coordination among stakeholders and inadequate enforcement of environmental laws.
She said existing pollution permit fees and penalties were too low to deter offenders.
“In Zimbabwe, it is cheaper to pollute rather than comply with the environmental water laws,” she said.
Mrs Murambiwa said residents continued to bear the cost of pollution through higher water tariffs as the City of Harare now requires up to 10 chemicals costing an estimated US$3 million every month to treat polluted water.
She said an estimated 250 million litres of raw sewage flowed into Lake Chivero daily, further degrading the city’s main water source.
Mrs Murambiwa urged residents not to buy fish illegally caught from Lake Chivero, warning that consumption of contaminated fish posed serious health risks.
“We call upon residents of Harare to stop buying contaminated fish from Lake Chivero, as this has serious health consequences,” she said.
She welcomed Government’s decision to maintain the ban on fishing at Lake Chivero, saying pollution levels remained critical.
Mrs Murambiwa said CHRA had developed a Model Statutory Instrument anchored on the “Polluter Pays Principle” to strengthen environmental governance by ensuring polluters meet the full costs of environmental remediation and restoration.
She said the association will also roll out a public awareness campaign targeting councillors, legislators, community leaders, residents and Government agencies to strengthen compliance with environmental laws and promote accountability.
Mrs Murambiwa urged Parliament to expedite amendments to the Environmental Management Act, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act and the Water Act to strengthen the country’s legal framework for combating water pollution.
While acknowledging Government’s ongoing river rehabilitation efforts through a recently gazetted Statutory Instrument under the Civil Protection Act, she said more attention should be directed towards Lake Chivero.
“The situation at Lake Chivero deserves urgent attention and is, in itself, a state of national disaster,” said Mrs Murambiwa.
