Chronicle EditorGeorge Maponga Masvingo Bureau
Water rationing in Masvingo will continue for a long time after city officials failed to obtain a Government guarantee to borrow $50 million from China to roll out phase two of the water augmentation programme. Suburbs here run dry between 4pm and 4am daily when council pumps water into reservoirs after cutting off supplies to allow replenishment. Council intended to borrow money from China Eximbank to double the city’s water pumping, purification, conveyance and storage capacity from 30 mega litres per day to 60.
Daily demand for water in the city has risen drastically over the past few years following its expansion project, which saw the development of nearly 10 000 new residential stands.
Masvingo city mayor Councillor Hubert Fidze yesterday confirmed that the roll out of phase 2 of the water augmentation project was in limbo.
”As you know, council does not have many assets and properties that have title deeds, so we had pinned our hopes on a Government guarantee for us to get a loan from China Eximbank, but we failed to get the guarantee,” he said.
”Government indicated that they are currently not entertaining any foreign loans, so they could not guarantee the US$50 million loan we wanted from China and at the moment the water project cannot kick-off because there is nowhere we can get money.”
Cllr Fidze said Masvingo city had already identified a Chinese firm, CAMCE Engineering, to undertake the water augmentation project that would have all, but ended recurrent water problems.
He said phase 2 of the water augmentation project would entail duplicating the existing water supply infrastructure from the Bushmead Water works plant on the shores of Lake Mutirikwi, up to the storage water tanks built on hills near Hillside suburb.
”We have been carrying out daily water rationing so that all our suburbs can have a share of the available water and we might continue doing so into the foreseeable future,” said Cllr Pfidze. “We close all the taps at 4pm every day and open them at 4am the next morning to allow our water storage tanks to replenish, as water would be pumped during the course of the night.”
Masvingo residents have slammed council for failing to be proactive, saying the prevailing water shortages could have been avoided if city officials had gradually invested in the upgrading of water works over the years.
They said it was shocking that a city of less than 150 000 people was repeatedly plagued by water shortages, despite getting supplies from Lake Mutirikwi, which is Zimbabwe’s second largest inland dam after Tokwe-Mukosi Dam in Chivi.
Council in turn has accused residents of failing to honour their water bills, as they owe the city millions of dollars which could be re-invested to upgrade the water works.
Masvingo’s water works last underwent a major upgrade in 1984 when the pumping capacity was increased to 24 megawatts a day, before another expansion was undertaken a few years ago to slightly move the capacity to the 30 mega litres daily.
City officials at one time explored the possibility of constructing a water pipeline to draw the city’s water supplies from Tokwe-Mukosi Dam, nearly 100 kilometres away.
This was after Lake Mutirikwe’s levels had dropped precariously because of a myriad of problems ranging from drought to increasing siltation.
Online Reporter