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Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Larry Mavima has castigated Kwekwe City Council for disconnecting water from defaulting residents at a time when the country is facing a cholera outbreak.
Kwekwe City Council which is reportedly owed over $35 million in unpaid rates by residents went around disconnecting water in a bid to force residents to make payment plans.
In an interview, the newly-appointed Minister for the Midlands province said the reports of water disconnections by the MDC-T run Kwekwe City Council were shocking.
“I am yet to get an appraisal of what is happening in Kwekwe but if it’s true that they are cutting water supplies at a time when the country is facing typhoid and cholera outbreaks is something else. They should stop disconnecting water forthwith,” he said.
Minister Mavima said the local authority should find other ways of recovering what the council is being owed by the residents.
“I will engage the municipality, but all the same we are saying we are making efforts to contain the cholera outbreak and it is the council’s duty to be part of this cause,” said Minister Mavima.
Newly-elected Kwekwe mayor Councillor Angeline Kasipo justified the move saying the local authority desperately needed funds to purchase water treatment chemicals.
“We have no other choice but to disconnect them if they are not paying. Council does not have money to buy water treatment chemicals so we need to make sure that the residents get clean water and that way we avoid diseases outbreak,” said Clr Kasipo.
Kwekwe seeks to recover about $35 million owed by ratepayers and companies.
Clr Kasipo said the local authority was doing everything to ensure that they prevent cholera outbreak in Kwekwe.
She said some of the measures to control the cholera outbreak by the local authority was to clamp down on back yard food vendors.
Online Reporter