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Yeukai Karengezeka Herald Correspondent
Harare Wetlands Trust has castigated the city fathers for failing to take measures to stop the invasion of wetlands around the Greater Harare which is likely to cause a water crisis in the city.
Many wetlands have been used for housing developments, agriculture, extraction of underground water, sand and as dump sites for waste. The trust’s coordinator Mrs Julia Pierini said the City of Harare must pass a resolution that forbids developments on wetlands.
“We really feel that the City of Harare has not done much to address this issue of wetlands because we continue to see developments in such areas,” she said.
“One of the major intervention that council can make is to pass a resolution that there will be no developments on wetlands. This will assist it in transforming Harare into a world class city by 2025.”
Mrs Pierini said sustainable development could not be achieved if wetlands were not preserved. “There will be no sustainable development without water and we are sitting on our water source.
“If we continue to develop it, it means reduced delivery of clean water to supply dams and greater expense for the city in treating and sourcing alternative water supplies,” said Mrs Pierini.
She said most wetlands had already lost 30 to 70 percent of their original surface area, which means that the city has already lost 50 percent of the potential benefits provided by wetlands.
Harare corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said they were doing their best to preserve the wetlands.
“Our position is very clear that we are for the preservation of our wetlands because we understand the critical role that they play in water conservation,” he said. “That is also the reason why we have been demolishing all illegal structures built on wetlands.”
Online Reporter