In other areas like Senga and Nehosho suburbs supplies are cut for intervals of two weeks. In various other suburbs around the city, running water is only available at night. Because of severe water shortages, Gweru was among the worst affected suburbs during the 2008-9 cholera outbreak that killed at least 4,000 people.
In March, Cornellias Selipiwe, the Gweru United Residents Association Chairperson, led a demonstration to push the city fathers to commit solve the clean water crisis. Contacted for comment, he said: “It is an open secret that the council is not devoting enough energies and commitment to the water problem. We are still engaging them.”
But Town Clerk Daniel Matawu believes the matter will soon be a thing of the past. He said the city is repairing water supply equipment, some of which is 50 years old.
Matawu said, over the years, there had been no replacement of obsolete equipment, with council resorting to repairing old ones as a result of financial constraints. But since the beginning of this year council had embarked on an exercise to refurbish obsolete water pipes, pumps and motors, he added.
Post published in: News