Hwange runs dry

Leonard Ncube Senior Reporter
HWANGE has been without water for the past four days after recent heavy rains damaged the town’s water pipeline system.
Concerned residents told Chronicle on Wednesday the situation was getting out of hand as major businesses and government offices such as the Magistrates’ Courts and St Patrick’s Hospital were affected.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority’s Gwayi catchment manager Fortune Musoni said engineers could not attend to burst pipes because of floods.

“Zinwa is failing to provide water. It is four days today since residents of Mpumalanga, Baobab, Chibondo and surrounding areas last had water,” said a source from Hwange.

“This has compromised service delivery as schools are also closing early because there is no alternative source of water.”
Residents said the coal mining town had been without running water since Monday but Zinwa officials said the problem started two days ago.

“Effectively this happened for two days, but I can confirm that we had a pipe burst. The problem is that water was flowing where the pipe had burst and we couldn’t fix it on time,’” said Musoni.

He said engineers were attending to the problem although it would take some time before water was restored.
“We have finished fixing the pipe and it has already been tested. However, because it took a long time for the pipe to be fixed, it will take a long time before residents start accessing water,” he said.