Residents blast ‘incompetent’ BCC over water

BULAWAYO residents have come out with guns blazing, accusing the city council of ineptitude following a prolonged water crisis that has hit most of the city’s suburbs.

Most suburbs have gone for weeks without running water, with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) attributing the problem to a burst pipeline connecting Ncema Water Treatment Works and Criterion Water Treatment Plant in Burnside suburb.

Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA) chairperson, Mr Winos Dube said the prevailing water crisis in the city has turned into a very contentious issue, which requires urgent attention.

“We have always been talking about this issue. It appears council management is failing to come up with a solution. I am not sure whether it’s an issue to do with political affiliation or incompetence,” he said.

“For a long time now, we have struggled in terms of service delivery. I was listening to Mr (Nelson) Chamisa’s speech during their rally in Bulawayo and he mentioned that the city has not been developed in the last 43 years yet it is the opposition in charge of running it.”|

Mr Dube said when Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980, urban councils were running smoothly until the turn of the millennium when the opposition took over.

“We had a council that worked in partnership and meticulously with each other despite political differences. In 1980, we had our council being run by ZAPU, but then in 1987, it joined forces with Zanu-PF and there was a progress,” he said.

Mr Dube commended the Second Republic for implementing the Lake Gwayi-Shangani project, which, upon completion, is expected to permanently address Bulawayo’s water woes.

“We have the Lake Gwayi-Shangani project including the Nyamandlovu Aquifers, which has partly solved the crisis,” he said.
“The water problem is a serious issue, which requires seriousness. It appears BCC does not have the people’s livelihoods at heart.”

Mr Dube said the city is now lagging behind in terms of investment and development due to perennial water challenges.
“Our city is very attractive in terms of investment opportunities but needs a brilliant leadership that will nurture it back to its lustre. We are missing out on investment because of a lack of water. For the industry to operate, it needs running water,” he said.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary for administration Mr Thembelani Dube said the local authority had failed the city.
“Every month there are interruptions in the water supply, and these interruptions come with no notice. This is a serious issue and therefore whenever there is a looming water cut, council should inform us on time,” he said.

He slammed the city councillors, accusing them of being dishonest and insincere.
“They claim to supply water using water bowsers and to kiosks, which is not true, and the information they release to the public is false. The problem is that these policymakers forget that for them to be in office, it is us,” he said.

BCC corporate communications manager Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said the interruptions in the water supply were due to a leak in a major supply pipe.
“The leak has been ongoing for four weeks, and in the last two weeks, it was developed into a major leak. The leak is located inside the Flowserve pump house and a risk was observed as eventually resulting in the damage of pumping equipment,” she said.

Mrs Mpofu said engineers have come up with contingency plans to avert the problem.
“Raw water from Ncema to Criterion which flows through the Flowserve pipeline is currently being re-routed via alternative pumps although the volumes are less. Meanwhile, the city is now on a daily water restoration strategy to ensure that no areas goes for long periods without water,” she said.

Mrs Mpofu said they have increased the water bowsers and water kiosks across the suburbs.
She attributed the problem to an obsolete water pumping infrastructure.

The prevailing water crisis in most residential areas has forced some residents to resort to unhygienic water sources in swampy areas.
Long winding queues have become the order of the day in most suburbs.

A Chronicle news crew witnessed residents in some suburbs fetching water from unhygienic water sources dotted in swampy areas.
Some women were spotted washing clothes using the water from holes that they had dug around the smelly swamps.
“We don’t have running water and it has been almost a month now. Residents with houses that are situated in high-lying areas are most affected,” said a resident Mrs Winnie Ncube.

“We have appealed to the council to address this issue, but nothing has been done. We are sitting on a health time bomb ready to explode if this problem is not addressed, particularly given that schools have closed and children are home.”

She said some residents are relieving themselves in nearby bushes.
“You cannot use the bush because it stinks. Some of us are vendors and we sell fresh produce and without water, we lose business,” she said.

Another resident, Mrs Philippa Sibanda said since her house is located on a hilltop, she hardly receives water even when it is restored.
Some residents in the suburb are now forced to collect water from the council clinic borehole, which is solar-powered.