adminVusumuzi Dube Municipal Reporter
THE ban on the use of Umguza River water for irrigating vegetables and other crops will not be lifted anytime soon as de-polluting the river could take a number of years, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has revealed. The recent application for borrowing powers by the Bulawayo City Council to help fund its sewer reticulation system, EMA has said, was also not going to contribute much towards de-polluting the river.
These revelations come close to three months after the contamination of the river was exposed in the media, amid warnings that crops that were being watered using water from the river could expose people to various health hazards.
The local authority, which was fingered as one of the major polluters of the river, reacted to this health hazard by applying for borrowing powers for $13 million meant to be used for the rehabilitation of equipment at their wastewater treatment works which has over the years grown obsolete and needs urgent replacement.
However, in an interview with Sunday News last Friday, EMA education and communications manager Mr Steady Kangata said the river still remained heavily polluted, saying the de-polluting of the river would be a long process.
“The heavy pollution at the river still remains high and very worrying. As EMA we continue doing our part but we feel it is not enough. Even if the local authority gets that $13 million, it is still not enough. It is actually not that easy because we still have the industries that are still discharging this raw effluent. Besides, we need an attitude change from everyone; people have to manage what they discharge to that river.
“If you note, this has been an ongoing issue for quite too long, even residents in the city have somehow accepted it that the Mazai river is part of them, which is an attitude that honestly has to be changed,” said Mr Kangata.
“We can never cheat ourselves by believing that the de-pollution of this river will be an overnight event. The truth is it will take years. We must first address all the loopholes and ensure that whatever is being discharged into that river has passed through some treatment of some sort.”
Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Martin Moyo, however, said they were hopeful that when the local authority got the required money and the rehabilitation of their wastewater treatment plants starts, this would go a long way in reducing the pollution of the river.
“The reason we applied for these borrowing powers is because we feel it is what is needed for us to reduce the pollution within this river.
“We remain very hopeful that when this is done, we will rid ourselves of this heavy unfortunate burden,” said Clr Moyo.
Government dispatched a team of experts to Umguza on 6 May to carry out a detailed study of water quality and the impact of the contaminated water on the agricultural activities and inhabitants within the Umguza area.
Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate Cde Saviour Kasukuwere, also announced the intention to increase fines for environment polluters within the area.
A 2009 study by the National University of Science and Technology Ecotoxicology Research Group in the department of Applied Biology and Biochemistry, showed that fish collected from Umguza Dam had high levels of metals as compared to fish collected from other dams.
Meanwhile, Mr Kangata revealed that Harare and Bulawayo still remain as the top polluters in the country, owing to their size and population.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu