adminLeonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
CLOSE to 4,000 people in Kamativi area are allegedly sitting on a health time bomb as the mining settlement has been without water for the past month.Residents of the once mighty tin mine community and a National Youth Service (NYS) camp now rely on boreholes and raw water from a nearby dam thereby putting their lives at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.
Water supply to the settlement has been erratic for the past decade, according to residents.
“We have been having water challenges since 2006 as the pump would occasionally break down. At the moment we have been without water for the past one month. We get raw water from DRC dam which is not safe for consumption,” said a resident who preferred to remain anonymous.
The councillor for the area, Clr Joshua Tshuma, said the water problem was exacerbated by residents who fail to pay their rentals and bills to Hwange Rural District Council.
“We have been having problems with the engine for a while and people are relying on boreholes and a nearby dam. However, some suburbs are far away from the boreholes. Life is becoming difficult for people as they travel to distant places to get water. Most people are relying on raw water which might cause diseases. The council is working flat out to rectify the situation but the challenge is that rentals paid by people are too little while the majority are not even paying.”
HRDC vice-chairman Mathew Muleya said there was a need for urgent government intervention to help improve the water situation.
He said the water crisis was discussed at a National Youth Service meeting held at the settlement on Saturday where graduates told their leaders that running the camp was now difficult without water.
“We want to revive the NYS and we had a meeting in Kamativi to discuss a number of issues. The water crisis was raised as one of the major challenges the camp is facing,” said Clr Muleya who is NYS provincial commander for Matabeleland North.
He said there were more than 3,500 people drinking raw water from the dam as water pumps were not working.
“We want to appeal to the government to help council in buying the required equipment. Our challenge is that those people are not paying rates and that makes service delivery difficult,” said Clr Muleya.
It could not be immediately established how much the local authority needed to repair the water equipment.
Online Reporter