Chronicle Editor
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter
BULAWAYO residents have appealed to the Government to intervene in the city’s water crisis, adding that the situation can hamper efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Bulawayo City Council on Monday started supplying water to residents twice a week as the city faces a critical water shortage as its supply dams continue to dwindle.
So dire is the situation that some suburbs in the city will not have any water supplies until the next rainy season.
In a letter addressed to the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), through its coordinator, Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu noted that the current water situation in the city could hamper Government’s fight against COVID-19.
Mr Ndlovu said the city population has tremendously outgrown the supply capacity of the available six supply dams, siltation and the obtaining adverse climatic conditions of the ecological region have also exacerbated the situation.
“We need to bring to the attention of His Excellency that the major dams to the city were built before independence and Bulawayo faces perennial water shortages, year in, year out. The local authority has done everything within the limits of its resources to no avail.
“BCC has further announced that some areas in Nkulumane and Pumula will not be receiving water until the next rainy season. To try and cushion residents during this COVID19 pandemic, BCC has done its level best to avail water bowsers at critical water points. While this will assist in the interim, BPRA foresees a possible disaster if the situation is not immediately addressed,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He said it was unfortunate that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Settlement, has to-date, not responded to a request from council to declare the city a water shortage area.
BCC wrote to the Ministry on 10 January.
“The current situation of a five days water shedding is tragic in the face of the ravaging pandemic and other potential sanitary related diseases. It is against this background that as BPRA we pray that your esteemed office proactively declares the City’s woes a national disaster.
“We feel that if this situation is not promptly addressed it may trigger undesirable outcomes, not to mention loss of precious human lives. We feel this is a critical matter that requires your urgent attention,” reads the letter.
In the letter to the Ministry, council requested the taking over of ground water resources, noting that this was the only way the city could not only manage its water supplies but also be in a position to have a navigating role in the solutions to the city’s perennial water shortages. – @vusadb
Online Reporter