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Patience Mutsiwi and Lovemore Zigara, Midlands Reporters
GWERU has gone for three days without water forcing residents to fetch water from unprotected sources.
Acting town clerk Mr Edgar Mwedzi confirmed the development.
He said the local authority has not been pumping water from Gwenhoro Dam after the only transformer broke down when it was struck by lightning over the weekend.
“We have experienced a major break down at Gwenhoro Dam and the repairs are underway, the transformer which supplies electricity to Gwenhoro Dam was damaged on Sunday due to heavy rains.
“I’m not sure how long they will take, we will notify you once they are done,” he said.
Public toilets and residents’ toilets have clogged due to the unavailabity of water.
Meanwhile, the city fathers were yesterday forced to abandon a budget consultation meeting that had been scheduled for Mkoba Hall in Mkoba 3 suburb.
A handful of residents who pitched up complained that they were too few to make meaningful contributions.
Council officials who attended the budget consultation meeting who included Gweru Commission chairperson Mr Tsunga Mhangami, Mr Mwedzi, acting chamber secretary Mr Gibson Chingwadza and Ward 11 Councillor Silas Furo, among others, gave in to residents’ pressure and cancelled the meeting.
The residents accused council officials of not adequately informing them about the budget consultation meeting beforehand leading to the low turnout.
Last week council issued notices and distributed fliers informing residents that they were going to hold budget consultation meetings in various localities in the city.
An elderly resident, Mr Japhet Ncube, said: “Most people don’t know about this meeting because council workers just left the fliers at the shopping centre yet when you want to hand us to debt collectors you execute a door by door approach and that is what you should have done with the fliers,” he said.
“We are even fewer than the council officials here and I don’t think our views will be a true representation of residents hence I propose you postpone the meeting. Use the hailer so that people can come in numbers.”
In another development, council has presented a static $31, 5 million budget for 2017.
“From the foregoing discussions depicting a depressed economic environment, the 2017 budget will be a standstill budget which shall give emphasis on adopting strict fiscal discipline and a raft of cost cutting measures and revenue enhancement strategies,” read part of the budget summary statement.
The budget summary statement also hinted that council would close some of its loss making entities.
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