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In an interview, Dr Mpofu said the situation at the river had gone beyond being an environmental matter to being a life-threatening crisis.
“Disaster can only be averted if direct action is taken now. I have already engaged the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Francis Nhema, to come up with a sustainable environmentally friendly solution to the problem. If we delay in acting, lives may be lost,” said Dr Mpofu.
He said the state of the river had always been of great concern to him and he was glad people had finally been made aware of the harm they were causing by irresponsibly dumping waste into the river.
“It is unfortunate that authorities have not been able to rein in those who wantonly dump dangerous toxins in the river. However, I am happy that they have read the story about the results of their actions and are now likely to stop killing people downstream,” he said.
Dr Mpofu said the culprits should voluntarily stop polluting the river before “unpleasant” legal action is taken to compel them to do so.
“I am one of the farmers in Umguza who have been forced to fence off my livestock from the river. Communities in my constituency have been robbed of a source of nutritious fish and clean water for irrigation because of the dangerous poisons in Umguza River. Enough is enough, the net is closing in on the polluters,” said Dr Mpofu.
Umguza River is filled with untreated human waste from sewers in Bulawayo, dangerous poisons like lead, mercury, traces of cyanide and chromium 6 from companies in the city’s Belmont industrial area.
Zinwa’s Gwayi Catchment manager Mr Fortune Musona, under whose area of jurisdiction the river falls, said crops irrigated with the water had elevated toxin levels and did not meet international standards for exportation.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Gerald Gwinji, said if the concentration of the polluting chemicals increased to a certain level, drinking water from the river could prove fatal.
A medical expert added that people who drank water from the river or ate animals that drank from it risked cumulative lead and mercury poisoning.
He said the effects that could manifest even after 20 years or in future generations, included babies born with deformities or children who are extremely dull.
The doctors said communities along the river could get cancer or suffer from skin disorders because of the chemicals being dumped into Umguza River.
Bulawayo residents who eat fish caught in the river faced the same risk as villagers who use the water for various purposes.
EMA has fined the Bulawayo City Council a total of $10 000 this year for polluting the river.
The Cold Storage Company (CSC), Belmont Leather and Prestige Leather were each fined $500 for illegal dumpsites while another tannery was fined $1 000 for deliberately channelling toxic effluent into the city’s storm drains, which empty into Umguza River.
Leading bakeries Lobels and Bakers Inn have also been issued with warnings after their operations were deemed likely to add to the river’s pollution.
Online Reporter