Kuwadzana Extension Residents At Health Risk

Kuwadzana Extension has no boreholes and there is no clinic. Already reports abound that several residents have been complaining of stomach aches as a result of drinking unsafe water from the nearby tributary that separates Kuwadzana Extension and the other parts of Kuwadzana. Unfortunately for Kuwadzana Extension residents, the local councillor Resias Masunda has been invisible to try to assist residents during this time of crisis. It is hoped that he wakes up and begins to work with the people who elected him.

As an urgent response, the HRT urges Harare residents to defy this unbridled attack on their rights by re-connecting the disconnected water supplies. The time has come for residents of Harare to defend their rights from further abuse at the hands of insensitive employees of the democratically elected council of Harare.

The HRT has continued to receive serious cases of residents rights violations. Water disconnections started on Tuesday 22 March 2011. The reason is that the residents have not paid up water bills and have failed to clear their debt that has accumulated overtime due to unaffordability of the water bills. Over a thousand households have been affected by the water cut and it is reported that the number is increasing as water cuts are spreading to other parts of the community. Witnesses say the City of Harare employees involved have displayed unhindered zeal and determination to execute this evil exercise that clearly separates the City Council from the citizenry. This display contradicts sharply with the attitude of city employees when executing their routine duties where they abuse residents in banking halls and take their time to attend to a single resident, forgetting they survive on residents money.

There is an average of six people per household giving an approximate average of 6 000 people who have been affected by the water cut. Household toilets have been abandoned for the bush, presenting another problem that also needs to be addressed- environmental contamination. Children in the area are still attending school at Kuwadzana 8 Primary School which has a limited supply of water. There is imminent danger that there may be a cholera outbreak in the locality.

The residents use Dzivarasekwa clinic which is incapacitated to serve the growing population of the two communities. If there is a cholera outbreak in the community, the impact is too ghastly to contemplate. Water is life and cannot be willy-nilly disconnected. Cutting water supplies for the residents of Kuwadzana Extension clearly shows a lack of concern for the wellbeing of the residents who are the financer of the City of Harare.

Residents are willing to pay their rates but cannot pay exorbitant rates that are unjustified. All debts must be canceled. The accumulated debt partly due to the conversion of the Zimbabwean currency and interest rates charged on the outstanding bills is a major hindering factor. For how long will the City of Harare fail to acknowledge that efficiency entails the use of even limited resources (reasonable and affordable subscriptions from the residents) whilst making greater improvements in service delivery. The HRT is suggesting the following on this issue:

That water should be reconnected since it is illegal to cut off supplies for the community as water is a basic human right.

The Council should reduce by 50 percent the debt of those residents who have not paid any money since February 2009 when the multi-currency system was introduced and all debt must be cancelled to those residents who have consistently attempted to pay their monthly bills, although short of the expected amounts. This will encourage payment and increase the cash flows of council.

There has to be a separate water account so that water billing is clearly separated from the other rates.

Residents are urged to proceed to reconnect their water if the City of Harare fails to heed the concerns of residents.