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In an interview yesterday, the acting Mayor of Gwanda, Councillor Thoko Sibanda, said the local authority had completed the construction of a five-megalitre water storage tank at Spitzkop Mountain to address the problem of inadequate water supplies in high lying suburbs in Gwanda.
“We have constructed a five-megalitre water storage tank at a cost of $1.640 million so that we address the water challenge that continues to affect residents in high-lying areas such as Spitzkop and surrounding areas.
“We have also managed to upgrade our sewer systems at Jahunda suburb where there were constant blockages and sewer bursts are now a thing of the past,” said Clr Sibanda.
The project was funded through assistance from the Australian Embassy.
Clr Sibanda expressed concern over the rate at which ratepayers settled water bills, saying it impacted negatively on service delivery.
She said the council only retained 30 percent of money raised through water bills while 70 percent went to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).
The water treatment plant was recently refurbished by Red Cross Society.
“Our great concern is that the rate of payment for water bills is way below 10 percent yet council needs money to buy water purification chemicals,” she said.
Unicef, which has been supplying the local authorities with the purification chemicals, stopped supplying the commodity in March last year.
Gwanda Municipality is also involved in a protracted battle with Zinwa over the manage-ment of sewer and water reticulation systems.
The local authority is bitter that Zinwa has failed to cede the provision of water and management of the sewer systems to the council although it has allowed other local authorities to take over.
It argues that Zinwa’s action is against the Government directive, which said local authorities should take over the running of the systems but the water utility has refused to budge, saying Government’s directive gave it the mandate to provide water in areas it was providing the service to before 2005.
The issue has since been taken to the High Court.
Clr Sibanda also expressed concern over the poor road network, saying the municipality was in the process of mobilising adequate resources to rehabilitate the town’s infrastructure, which is in a bad state.
“Our roads are in a bad state and as council we have no adequate funds to address the problem. We are a very busy town linking the Matabeleland region and South Africa hence we urge Government to increase funding for the rehabilitation of our roads,” she said.
Clr Sibanda said in an effort to address the accommodation crisis in Gwanda, the municipality had embarked on a massive housing project in Jahunda Township.
She, however, said funds were not enough to survey more land.
“As a municipality, we don’t have money to service both residential and commercial stands. In fact, Gwanda is in a rocky terrain such that it becomes expensive to survey and service land. We have, however, embarked on a housing project at Jahunda and we are also in the process of looking for private land developers so that we address the problem of accommodation,” she said.
The town’s housing backlog stands at 10 000.
The council also intends to service 2 300 stands at Judd’s Farm and the beneficiaries would be given the stands on the understanding that they pay first before servicing.
Online Reporter