adminEvelene Taadira Herald Reporter
Chitungwiza residents yesterday said they regretted voting for MDC-T councillors as their capacity to deliver was questionable, with the shortage of water that continues to haunt the town.The new Chitungwiza council is yet to be inaugurated, but it will be dominated by MDC-T that oversaw the town’s decline over the past five years as councillors engaged in corrupt activities ahead of service delivery.
Residents are already criticising MDC-T for proposing the appointment of Ward 2 councillor-elect Phillip Mutodi as the town’s deputy mayor, saying his lack of qualifications would take the town to the brink.
“The situation is bad and we have not had water for more than six months,” said Mrs Mary Maphosa of Seke Unit A.
“We are scared the situation will get worse since the same people who have been leading the previous council and have failed to bring noticeable change have been retained.”
Residents who normally get water twice a week are already in their second week with their taps dry, while other sections of town have gone dry for nearly a year.
When The Herald visited the town yesterday, young women and children formed the bulk of the people scouting for water from unprotected wells and from storm water drains.
A resident who only identified herself as Mrs Chigumira from Zengeza 3 Extension said it was unfortunate that despite poor living conditions resulting from poor service delivery in the town, residents still entrusted the same MDC-T councillors with another five-year mandate.
“There was extreme vote buying as councillors took advantage of the jobless, giving them beer and money to get votes to the detriment of development within the town,” she said.
Early this year, residents called on Government to intervene in their situation amid fears of disease outbreaks due to continued use of unprotected water sources.
“People are frustrated, our backyard wells have since dried up and in some cases we are having to do some work in exchange for water from those who have it,” said Mr Noel Moyo.
“We have been reduced to servants, yet we are paying our water bills on time.”
Chitungwiza municipality public relations manager Mr Zephaniah Zuze attributed the shortage of water to a mechanical fault.
“This situation has been bad this week because of a mechanical breakdown at our Manyame pump on Thursday last week,” he said.
“Most residents have not received water since then. Our engineers together with those from Harare are working flat out to improve the situation.”
Mr Zuze said relying on Harare for water was not ideal for the town.
“As it is now, we are at the mercy of the City of Harare and any challenges affecting it will affect us also,” he said. “We are, however, making consultations to improve the situation.”
Chitungwiza Town Clerk Mr George Makunde said they were in the process of courting investors to help solve the water crisis.
“We are very sympathetic to what the residents are going through and we are in the process of courting investors,” he said.
“Though I might not know what will happen with the new council, we have a rhythm of developmental plans that need to be worked on and these remain, despite who comes in or goes out of council.”
Meanwhile, residents in some of Harare’s western suburbs woke up to dry taps yesterday and were scrounging for water from unprotected sources, raising fears of the outbreak of diseases.
But Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi said he was not aware that some areas in the city did not have running water.
Online Reporter