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Herald Reporter
Companies that are polluting Harare’s water sources should be held accountable and pay for the solid waste they discharge into the city’s major rivers and water supply dams, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said yesterday.
He said this when he and the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Dr Ignatius Minister Chombo toured the Morton Jaffray Water Works to check on the progress being made to rehabilitate water and wastewater treatment plants.
Minister Kasukuwere expressed concern that water pollution was pushing up water production cost and affecting water supplies to residents.
“Water is important and it is the key for the City of Harare and our coming here is to appreciate for ourselves the rehabilitation of water and wastewater treatment plants. We are satisfied with the work being done,” he said.
“We must work closely with city authorities in reducing the amount of pollution which is costing the city in terms of cleaning water.
The companies which are polluting our water must pay.
“The city is losing close to US$3 million by treating water with eight chemicals instead of three and the money can be channelled to other areas to reduce the burden of water for the residents.”
Environment Management Authority (EMA) director of environment protection Mrs Petronella Shoko told the ministers that the most persistent and frequent polluters of the city’s rivers and major supply dams were the Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (Zimphos) and Olivine Industries.
The two companies, she said, were the major industrial polluters and were not accounting for their sludge.
As a result of the heavy pollution, Harare water production manager Engineer Lovemore Mlanda said the city was losing 160 megalitres per day because six clarifiers had broken down.
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