adminterms of treatment, distribution and access to clean water in the rural areas, a Cabinet minister has said.
Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu said the media had a tendency to merely highlight water issues when there is a crisis. He said the media should always go deeper to tell its readers the real story behind the problem.
The minister said this last week during a media award launch by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority.
“The media should not gloss over these and other issues. It is the role of the media to thoroughly research into these issues and provide people with stories that are factual, informative and constructive without necessarily being sensational,” he said.
The minister noted that water challenges rise beyond political party persuasion hence the need for a concerted effort by the media to highlight issues so as to assist the Government to formulate responsive policies.
“We have not read in the media that 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s rural water pumps are broken down, boreholes are not enough or have run dry and that people are having difficulties accessing water,” he said. “The media has also not highlighted that there is insignificant uptake of raw water from the country’s dams like Osborne and Mupudzi in Manicaland which have made the country’s water bodies earmarked mainly for irrigation white elephants.”
Billions of people worldwide, said the minister, had no access to water and the figures continue to grow everyday due to the effects of climate change, industrial development, urbanisation and related human activity. “Sadly, these billions suffer unnoticed simply because our media are pre-occupied with political and economic issues. The voice of these billions also need to be heard,” said Minister Shamu.
He slammed certain awards that have been given to some individuals, saying he had doubted their integrity together with those sponsoring them.
Water Resources Development and Management Minister, Sam Sipepa Nkomo said the launch of the awards was a testament of how his ministry viewed the media in the water sector.
In a speech read on his behalf by the director responsible for water resources, Eng Tinaye Mutazu, Minister Sipepa Nkomo said his ministry appreciated the role played by the media.
Zinwa Chief executive officer, Engineer Albert Muyambo, said the parastatal saw it prudent to introduce the awards to encourage journalists to cover water issues extensively for the benefit of the nation and water sector at large.
“Of late, we have seen widespread coverage of water issues with the main thrust being on water shortages, mainly being experienced in urban areas, but today we are saying this coverage should extend to the rural areas where women and children walk very long distances to fetch drinking water,” he said.
The media awards are expected to create public awareness on the importance of water need to conserve the resource properly and properly manage it.
Online Reporter