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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu,Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
GWANDA residents have endured the nightmare of unreliable water supply for several years.
With the country experiencing severe load shedding the water supply problem has worsened. Some suburbs can go for a week without tap water. This poses a health threat as some people are now relieving themselves in any hidden place such as trenches, unfinished houses and the nearby bush. Some people are using plastic bags which they dispose improperly.
The Gwanda water treatment plant is powered by electricity and during power cuts the plant cannot pump water to supply residents.
Residents have continuously called on the town’s municipality to come up with a lasting solution to ensure undisrupted water supply during power cuts.
During prolonged power cuts, residents mostly in the high-density suburbs are the worst affected. Apart from the power cuts-induced water disruptions, the town has also been experiencing challenges with water supply due to obsolete pipe system. Residents in high lying areas have also been experiencing water supply challenges.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) handed over the management of water treatment plants to Gwanda and Beitbridge municipalities end of June following a Government directive.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka presided over the historic hand-over ceremony of water treatment plants and water affairs to the two local authorities in line with the Second Republic’s devolution agenda.
The development left residents hopeful that water challenges would now be a thing of the past as one authority is now in charge.
A resident from Gwanda, Mr Mark Nyoni said the council had to invest in improving water supply to the town as the problem had persisted for long.
“Supply of water has been a major problem in Gwanda for time immemorial. At first it was the Gwanda Municipality and Zinwa who were jointly in charge of water and when we would inquire with council they would say that Zinwa is in charge of water and lay the blame on them.
“I live in Spitzkop North Suburb where we stayed for a long time without reliable water supply. Most of the time water did not reach us because of the gradient as we are situated in a high place. The problem was rectified in some houses but the challenge that we now have is of disrupted water supply because of power cuts,” he said.
Ms Siduduzile Masilela said it was not ideal for people to go for a week without water supply while they were living in serviced areas. She said the residents were hopeful that a five megalitre reservoir project undertaken in the town would solve the problem but it hasn’t.
“People deserve to live a decent life and they can’t live one if they don’t have access to water. It’s difficult especially for people with big families and many children to maintain hygiene of there is no water. That’s why people end up going to any place which is convenient to them but that’s a health threat.”
“The council has to invest in solarising the water treatment plant so that they can supply water even during power cuts. Council also has to replace these pipes which are constantly bursting causing leakages,” she said.
Gwanda Residents’ Association secretary-general Mr Wellington Nare said it has taken long for the municipality to provide reliable water supply to the town. He said he hoped that now council had taken over management of water then there will be improvement. Mr Nare said access to clean water was a basic right for residents.
Gwanda Mayor, Clr Njabulo Siziba said the council wished to address the problem of supply of water urgently but finances remained a challenge. He said it was difficult to ensure undisrupted water supply for residents during daily water treatment plant did not have an alternative source of power.
He said they realised that a lasting solution to the problem would be powering the water treatment plant with solar energy but council did not have the funds to solarise it.
“Our water system needs 36 hours of undisrupted power supply so that the water can be pumped up to full capacity.
Given the power cuts we have been experiencing of late it means that water supply will be disrupted as we can’t pump enough water. But whenever we can we ensure that people get water supply.
“A solution would be setting up a solar plant which can power the water treatment plant. This however, requires a lot of funds which we don’t have at the moment. For now we are concentrating on upgrading the water treatment plant and then we will work on the solar system. We assure residents that the problem will be rectified,” he said.
Clr Siziba said the town’s water supply system was now obsolete and needed to be upgraded. He said this was another cost which the cash-strapped municipality had to incur. Clr Siziba said the five megalitre reservoir was indeed supposed to bring the town’s water supply challenges to an end but more works had to be done.
He said the reservoir had leaks and council must find resources to fix them.
Clr Siziba said rectifying some of these anomalies could be easier if rate payers kept their end of the bargain by settling their bills reliably.
Facilitating higher quality water and sanitation services is a top priority as the country moves towards attaining an upper middle-income status by 2030. — @DubeMatutu
Online Reporter