Churches plead with Chombo

istian, we wish to advise you that the Bulawayo residents are not accepting the Zimbabwe National Water Authority take over. May their constitutional rights to object be respected,” said Churches in Bulawayo, a network of Christian denominations in a 22 August letter addressed to the local government minister, Ignatius Chombo.
The Zimbabwe government has taken over the running of the water and sewer
systems in 42 of the 55 urban councils countrywide after accusing them of failing to operate these services efficiently.
The state-run water authority has failed to raise the Z$305 billion (about US$1.2 billion at the official exchange rate) required to procure water-treatment chemicals. As a result, residents in many areas have been reported to go for sometimes more than two weeks without clean water. Some also lack water supplies in their homes and resort to using unprotected water sources elsewhere.
Health ministry officials have said cholera has killed 25 people in Harare in the past year, and the city council’s health director said 900 people are treated daily for diarrhoea. – ENI News